Code Lyoko: Eezo - CL
by Cdc100
Summary: This story takes place in the future…thirty years after the discovery of the mass relays. Five friends fight an evil virus named XANA, but a much greater threat is coming…
1. XANA Awakens - Part 1

Code Lyoko: Eezo

This story takes place in the future…thirty years after the discovery of the mass relays. Five friends fight an evil virus named XANA, but a much greater threat is coming…

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure, non-profit fanfiction. Code Lyoko is the property of Antefilms, Moonscoop, France 3, Canal J, Cartoon Network, Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain. Mass Effect is the property of BioWare, Electronic Arts and Casey Hudson. Please support the official releases.

**1**

Chapter One

"XANA Awakens"

_Diary of Jeremie Belpois, Kadic Academy 8__th__ Grade Student – October 9, 2183_

(A/N: Jeremie Belpois – Sharon Mann)

_A few weeks ago, I was hunting for parts to finish building my miniature mechs. I couldn't find anything around here I could use, so I decided to rummage for scrap in the abandoned factory not far from the academy. I figured that I could find plenty of cool, old, mechanical stuff left inside there that would be useful. And I wasn't disappointed. It was unbelievable! I stumbled into some sort of complex, with an entire computer lab with scanners, and especially this totally intense mainframe. For the moment, I haven't told anyone. It's my little secret. It's the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. And that wasn't all. That night, even though I was scared stiff, I decided to start up the computer._

Jeremie Belpois ran through the grounds of his school, Kadic Academy, until he reached a manhole in the middle of the wooded area. He opened the hatch and descended into the dark sewers. He brought up his omni-tool and activated the flashlight function. He made his way through the sewers by the light, but kept his hand over the bright orange interface, ready to deactivate it if he was spotted.

Eventually, he reached another manhole at the end of the passage he had taken, and took the ladder up. When he reached the top, he pushed the cover off and jumped onto the bridge to which it led. He closed the cover, turned off his omni-tool and ran into his destination at the end of the bridge: the factory he had spoken of in his diary.

Once inside, he grabbed onto one of several strands of rope hanging from the ceiling and slid down to the main floor, where he walked over to a large elevator and held up his omni-tool. The tool whirred for a few seconds before the door opened and admitted him. It closed and brought him down to a lower level in the factory, where he found the core of a large computer. A switch presented itself, and Jeremie stepped forward and took hold of it.

"I hope I'm not going to regret this in a minute," he said.

He pulled down on the switch, activating the large, tower-like structure. The device powered up, letting out a great flash of light and a gust, which ruffled the boy's hair and startled him.

"Now, let's see what you've got under the hood, my friend," said Jeremie, cracking his knuckles and tapping away at the interface.

The screen for the device activated, showing a number of windows, one of which depicted the sleeping form of what appeared to be a girl with pink hair.

"What is this?" asked Jeremie. "Some kind of game?"

Apparently, his voice had an effect. The girl woke up with a start and seemed to look at the frames of the window she occupied. Then, she looked straight at Jeremie.

"Who…who are you?" she asked. "W-where am I?"

Jeremie gasped and recoiled from the screen.

* * *

Not far from the academy, an Alliance shuttle was starting to descend on the town.

The shuttle held a small group of soldiers, sitting at either end of the craft and each doing a different thing. One sat near the door, fiddling with an omni-tool. Near the door opposite him was another one talking to a turian soldier situated between them. On the other end of the craft was another one laying back against the wall, not being jostled thanks to the shuttle's inertial dampeners. Another sat leaned forward with his hands folded under his chin. And the sixth and final one, a female, sat in the middle seat, cleaning a set of weapons.

The one speaking to the turian groaned for what seemed like the fifteenth time to the other passengers.

"I still can't believe we're being sent to guard a school!" he said. "How long before we get sent off on a real mission? I'm ready for some real action!"

(A/N: Tommy Dillon – Blake Swift, A.K.A. Shadyvox)

"We are still young Tommy," said the turian. "We shouldn't be too eager to run into danger. And besides, these are our orders. We should follow them."

(A/N: Villick Actius – Chris Guerrero, A.K.A. GeneralIvan)

"You know, I have to admire you, Villick," said Tommy. "You have, like, infinite patience or something."

"I've had to rein it in, thanks to my abilities," said Villick. "If I'm not careful, I could accidentally send someone flying up a tree."

The one resting against the wall kept his eyes closed as he responded.

"Name the time and the place, Actius," he said. "We can put that to the test."

"I was not issuing a challenge, Broot," said Villick. "You shouldn't treat every word out of my mouth as such."

Broot chuckled.

"Can't help it," he said. "It's in my nature."

(A/N: Brennan "Broot" Stan – Curtis Arnott, A.K.A. Takahata101)

The one who leaned forward looked at the one who fiddled with his omni-tool. He put his hands down and stood up. He walked over to his comrade and leaned against the door.

"Hey," he said. "Are you alright, Eddie? You look nervous."

"Sorry, sir," he said. "This is my first actual assignment. All I've done so far have been perimeter patrols."

(A/N: Eddie Barnes – Spike Spencer)

"Don't worry so much about it, Eddie," said their female comrade. "You're going to do fine. And anything you don't get, we'll help you with."

"I appreciate that, Lexi," said Eddie.

The young lady giggled.

"We're happy to help," she said.

(A/N: Lexi Rook – Tia Ballard)

"Just follow our lead and you'll be fine," said their commander.

"Understood, sir," said Eddie.

"And you don't have to call me sir," said their commander. "Just call me Derrick."

(A/N: Derrick Savage – Matthew Mercer)

"Sorry, Derrick," said Eddie.

"And for God sakes, stop apologizing," said Derrick, smiling.

He went back to his seat and put his chin back in his hands.

Before he had the chance to close his eyes, he heard a click over the shuttle's intercom.

"We're reaching our destination, sir," said the pilot's voice.

"Go ahead and set us down," said Derrick. "And…stop calling me sir."

The shuttle made touchdown at a landing zone outside of Kadic Academy. Not far from there was their new base of operations. They grabbed their gear and walked away from the shuttle as it took off back into the sky.

"Hey, Villick," said Lexi. "Did you pack enough dextro food packs?"

"I should be good for a week, but after that, I'll be pushing it," said Villick.

"I'll requisition a shipment later," said Derrick.

Soon, the group made it to a building that was vacant, but somehow still in good condition. They didn't bother to count how many floors the structure had, and instead went inside and found the floor they were looking for.

"Eddie, bring up the intel package on this building," said Derrick.

Eddie brought out his omni-tool and cycled through some data until he found the floorplan of the building, along with instructions on what to do once they arrived.

"And check your omni-tool and see if the package on this school has arrived yet," said Derrick.

Eddie did as he was told.

"I don't see it, si- Derrick," he said. "And I set my omni-tool to ping when something new comes in."

"Alright," said Derrick. "Then just tell me what the package says about our accommodations."

Eddie looked through the data.

"According to this, there are some crawlspaces hidden throughout the building that are perfect for stowing equipment and hiding if we come under attack," said Eddie. "The package says that scenario is highly unlikely, but to remain open to the possibility."

"Anything else?" asked Derrick.

"Other than tearing the place up and making a lot of noise, we can do whatever we need to here," said Eddie. "The building's power is off the grid, and can be shut off with a simple command from our omnis."

Derrick nodded as he and his group continued through the building. They eventually found some stairs and used them to ascend to the floor they were looking for.

"I still don't understand something," said Tommy. "Why all the specifics for such a simple job?"

"I gotta agree with Tommy on this," said Broot. "We don't need a place like this if we're going to guard a school. What's wrong with…I don't know…the school's main office?"

"The school's main office doesn't have an armory," said Villick.

"Hm, good point," said Broot.

"Guys, try to keep in mind what's important here," said Derrick. "I don't know about you guys, but to me, Eden Prime was no joke. The geth have made their first appearance outside the Perseus Veil for centuries. Their appearance at Eden Prime wasn't something we expected. We have no idea what they're up to, so we have to be ready for anything, including an attack on something as unlikely as a school."  
"Alright, alright, alright!" exclaimed Tommy. "Christ. We know they could attack anywhere. But, you said it yourself: a geth attack on a school is unlikely."

"Um…" Eddie started to speak. "Well…"

He paused.

Derrick and company stopped and the whole group looked at Eddie.

"Go ahead, Eddie," said Derrick.

Eddie opened and closed his mouth a few times, but didn't let anything out.

"Eddie?" asked Derrick.

Eddie cleared his throat.

"Well...um…I was going to say it's not as unlikely as you would think," said Eddie. "However improbable it might seem, the geth could be here right now and we wouldn't even know it. They know how to stay silent, even when moving, and they don't need to breathe."

Eddie pulled up a schematic of a geth infiltrator on his omni-tool.

"You would think the lights they have on their heads would make them easy to spot," said Eddie. "But if they stuck out as much as one would think, Eden Prime might still have its security detail."

"Which means we have to be very careful," said Derrick. "It's as simple as that."

Derrick led his team to where they were to set up base. They stowed their weapons in the crawlspaces Eddie found all over the building. He synchronized his omni-tool with the others so they could find the compartments as easily.

After stowing all of his equipment, Villick squeezed his eyes shut and rested a hand on his head.

"Are you alright, Villick?" asked Lexi.

"Fine," said Villick. "I just need to sit for a minute."

He found a nearby stool and sat down.

"Perhaps we should take you to a doctor," said Lexi.

"When was the last time you saw a turian doctor on Earth?" asked Villick. "Besides, that's what you're here for, remember? If I had to have anyone not of my species operating on me, I would prefer you."

"How can someone be so sweet and yet so racist at the same time?" asked Lexi.

"I meant no offense," said Villick. "I just get nervous around human doctors."

"It's fine, Villick," said Lexi. "I was only teasing you."

"What a relief," said Villick.

He remained seated for a moment, then breathed out a long sigh.

"That's better," he said. "We should get going. Derrick is probably wondering where we are."

"Okay," said Lexi.

She followed Villick out the door and into a deserted lounge area the group had found. There, Derrick remained standing while the others were seated. Villick and Lexi joined their comrades on chairs at the back of the room.

"Eddie, has the Kadic Academy package come yet?" asked Derrick.

"Yeah," said Eddie, activating his omni-tool again. "It pinged while we were stowing our equipment and food stores."

He opened the schematics for the school, along with the instructions they received.

"Tomorrow, we're to report to the principal, Jean-Pierre Delmas, and inform him of the situation," said Eddie, pulling up a picture of the principal, an older, bearded man wearing a suit and glasses. "As far as the higher-ups are aware, Delmas is not happy about our placement at his school, but he's willing to cooperate if it means his students are safe. They expect part of it is because his daughter is one of said students. Regardless, we may encounter minimal resistance from him in our duties, but we shouldn't have too much trouble with him. Anyhow, after we've reported to him, we're to coordinate with Jim Morales, the school's physical education and health teacher, dorm supervisor and activity coordinator. We're to let him know of our presence if Delmas hasn't done that already and let him know what to expect with us around."

"Seems simple enough," said Tommy. "Talk to Dumbledore and Donkey Kong and get to work."

"Anything we should know about the school itself, Eddie?" asked Derrick.

"A 3D floorplan is available of the school itself, including the dorm rooms, the gymnasium, the cafeteria, what have you," said Eddie. "It doesn't appear as though there's anything out of the ordinary. The floorplans are updated once every few months or so. We can expect them to come in fairly frequently, and so we'll always know what's what about wherever in the building."

"Anything else?" asked Derrick.

"This is all I have on the school itself," said Eddie. "If you'd like me to, I can do some research on surrounding buildings, points of interest and things like that."

"It can wait till morning, Eddie," said Derrick. "For now, let's all go get some sleep.

"I second that motion," said Broot. "The principal might call us gun-toting pyjaks tomorrow. We might as well be well-rested pyjaks."

With that said, the team left the lounge and went to their rooms. Each of the rooms had a bed and desk, and little else. Derrick stripped off his armor and stowed it in a case under his bed. When it was all put away, he opened another case he brought with him and pulled out his alliance dress blues, which he intended to put on for when he met the principal the next day. He imagined his teammates were doing the same.

Once he had everything arranged, he pulled off his day clothes and turned off the light. He got into bed and closed his eyes, waiting for the sandman.

* * *

The next day, Kadic Academy resumed its normal routine of students coming from the dorms and going to their classes for the day.

Among the people taking their seats in the science lab was a young boy with brown hair. As he was about to take his seat, he heard a voice nearby.

"Excuse me?" asked the voice. "Are you Ulrich Stern?"

The boy turned and faced the source of the voice, and saw a boy about his age with the weirdest selection of clothes imaginable. Pants that were half purple and half black, a pink long sleeved shirt under a purple short sleeved shirt, and a strange hairstyle: blond hair, swept back, long enough to reach the neck, and a splotch of purple in the center.

"That depends," said the boy, Ulrich. "Who wants to know?"

(A/N: Ulrich Stern – Barbara Weber-Scaff)

"Odd Della Robbia!" replied the other boy, taking a seat next to him. "His brand new roommate!"

(A/N: Odd Della Robbia – Matthew Géczy)

"What?" said Ulrich, incredulous.

"I'm new at the academy, and the principal told me to move in with you," said Odd.

Ulrich emitted a light groan.

"'Latch onto me' sounds more like it," he said.

"Relax," said Odd, smiling. "I'm totally cool. Trust me. You'll see. You won't even know I'm there."

"I sure hope so," said Ulrich. "Look, we don't exactly go way back. So, just for now, let's take things nice and slow, okay?"

The smile didn't leave Odd's face.

"Okay," he said. "Nice and slow."

Just as they finished their conversation, an attractive girl with dark hair kept back by a yellow headband and wearing various "cutie" clothes walked up to Ulrich and Odd's table.

"Hi there, Ulrich sweetheart," she said, in a high-pitched, flirty voice. "I've got something very important to tell you."

(A/N: Elisabeth "Sissi" Delmas – Jodi Forrest)

Ulrich turned to face her with noticeable annoyance.

"Important like, uh…'I lost my mascara' or 'my pink t-shirt ran?'" he asked.

"No!" exclaimed Sissi. "Nothing as serious as that. It's something about you and me, Ulrich. If you want to know more, come by my dorm tonight at 8. I'm counting on you!"

With that, she turned and went to her own desk.

"'Ulrich sweetheart?'" asked Odd. "Who's the good-looking babe?"

"Sissi," said Ulrich. "She's the principal's daughter. Guys flip over her, but she's only flipped over me."

"That's pretty cool!" said Odd.

"Cool?" asked Ulrich. "She's totally brain dead and a leech as well."

"In that case, it's pretty lame," said Odd.

As Ulrich and Odd went through their class, Derrick and his crew met with Delmas and Morales.

"I will be frank with you, Mr. Savage," said Delmas. "I was not happy with the idea that Alliance soldiers would be coming here as a protection detail, but I realize it was an unavoidable necessity in light of the incident on Eden Prime. However, there are two things about your group I cannot ignore: your small number and your fresh faces."

(A/N: Principal Jean-Pierre Delmas – Alan Wenger)

"You trying to say we don't know what we're doing?" asked Broot, more than a little bit aggressively.

"Easy does it, Broot," said Derrick. "The principal has a right to be concerned."

Derrick then turned his attention to Mr. Delmas.

"Mr. Delmas," he said, "I can assure you my team is ready for anything that might happen here. We can respond quickly and effectively to whatever we encounter. These five are the best soldiers I've ever worked with, and they have a respectable amount of experience. Especially Villick, here."

He indicated their turian comrade.

"That's…another point of concern," said Mr. Delmas.

Tommy's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Is it really the best idea to have a turian guarding a human school?" asked Mr. Delmas.

"You might want to rephrase that," said Tommy.

Derrick held his arm out. This time, to Tommy.

"Tommy, let me handle this," he said. "Mr. Delmas, before I answer, I would like to know what you mean by that."

"Don't misunderstand my bringing up the subject, Mr. Savage," said Mr. Delmas. "I personally hold no animosity towards the turians or aliens of any kind. However, I cannot speak for the rest of my staff, and I especially cannot account for the opinions of my students here. We have students whose relatives were veterans of the First Contact War. Having a turian on your team has the potential for negative repercussions here, as much as I hate to admit it."

"With all due respect, Mr. Delmas, that's why Villick is here," said Derrick. "Villick has been serving with my team as part of a joint Alliance-Turian Hierarchy project aimed at improving relations between us and the turians. He came to me as a newly-enlisted soldier. We traded one of our own soldiers for one of the Turian Hierarchy's. Truth be told, I think the Alliance got the better end of the deal."

Villick clicked his mandibles.

"You flatter me, Derrick," he said. "What Derrick says is true, Mr. Delmas. I am not here to stir up any trouble, even though my mere presence may do so. I come in the interest of improvement. I was surprised to make such good human friends in my time working with them. Perhaps as part of this security detail, I can bring more trust to your people for my people."

"I admire your dedication, Mr. Actius," said Mr. Delmas. "Even so, I cannot afford to take any risks. I realize I cannot restrict your operations, what with me being the principal of a school and you being soldiers, but I must ask you kindly not to draw too much attention to yourself if you can avoid it. And please believe me when I say it's nothing personal toward you."

Villick stepped forward.

"I understand your concern," said Villick. "The last thing I want is for any of your staff or students to feel uncomfortable. If at all possible, I will do my best to make myself unseen. In the meantime, I guess I will just have to hold onto the hope that your staff and students could eventually warm up to me."

"I nurture that hope as well, Mr. Actius," said Mr. Delmas. "I appreciate your understanding of the situation. I still have concerns, but perhaps in the coming days you will show me your prowess. I hope it matches your assertions, Mr. Savage."

Mr. Delmas turned to the P.E. teacher, who had been silent thus far.

"Jim, show Mr. Savage and his comrades around the campus," he said.

"Right away, sir," said Jim.

(A/N: Jim Morales – David Gasman)

Jim led the Alliance soldiers out of Mr. Delmas' office and took them on a tour of the campus.

As the soldiers were led around by the teacher, Odd and Ulrich got out of their class and came out into the courtyard.

"…and the waiter says, 'I don't have frog's legs. That's just the way I walk!'" exclaimed Odd, laughing. "You get it?"

"No," said Ulrich. "But what I _am_ beginning to get is that you're determined not to give me a break!"

"We're going to have to get to know each other," said Odd. "And you'll see. By the end of the day, you won't be able to do without me!"

Unbeknownst to Odd and Ulrich, Jeremie had snuck off the grounds and made his way back to the factory, where he was seated at the supercomputer he had activated the night before. He looked at the window and spoke.

"Hello?" he called. "Can you hear me?"

The girl with pink hair popped up on the monitor again.

"Yes, I can hear you," she said.

"I've got a couple of questions, um…" he started.

"Yes?" asked the girl.

"Well, I guess I should start with your name," said Jeremie. "What is it?"

"I…don't know," said the girl, looking perplexed.

"Alright," said Jeremie. "I suppose I could come up with something. How about the name...Maya?"

"Maya?" asked the girl, smiling. "I like that."

(A/N: Maya – Sharon Mann)

Jeremie smiled as well.

"But what I'd really like is for you to tell me what I'm doing in this virtual universe," said Maya.

"That's not so easy," said Jeremie. "For one thing, I can't tell what you are, exactly. You don't seem like a VI, and you're not like any AI I've ever seen…not that I've seen many."

"I'm sorry," said Maya. "I don't even know what an AI or VI is."

"Don't worry about it," said Jeremie. "Anyway, I do have a couple of answers. You're part of a virtual environment called Lyoko and you've got to try and get out of there. Look around for a door or something like that."

Heeding Jeremie's instructions, the girl stood up in the tower in which she was speaking to him, and took a look around.

The interior of the tower only seemed to consist of two things: the platform on which she stood, which had an odd eye-shaped insignia on it, and an endless, tubular outer wall covered in code segments and windows. Maya went to the end of the platform and touched the wall.

"Jeremie?" she asked "I can't find anything, I-"

She was interrupted by the strange phenomenon of her hand suddenly phasing through the wall. With curiosity, she stepped forward and out of the tower. Once outside, she saw a forest-like area. Trees with no branches reached up from the ground and seemed to go on forever. The landscape was floating green platforms to which the trees were attached.

"Jeremie!" asked Maya. "I-…This is weird. You have to see this."

"I'd love to," said Jeremie's voice, which seemed to emit from the sky. "You think you could give me a visual?"

"I'll try," said Maya.

With that, a window popped up on Jeremie's screen, showing the environment through Maya's eyes.

Jeremie gasped.

"Wow!" he interjected.

Just then, another window popped up on the screen. Then, suddenly, a hologram was projected to Jeremie's right, showing an X-shaped map of what appeared to be four different landscapes, surrounding a central sphere.

"Maya!" exclaimed Jeremie. "There isn't just a forest out there! There's an entire world! I count four sectors! Each one is different!"

Maya continued to walk through the virtual environment as she listened to Jeremie speak. She stopped when an odd sight caught her eye. Two small creatures with four legs and weirdly-shaped heads with the same symbol as the inside of the tower stamped to their heads, came out to greet her.

"Uh, Jeremie?" asked Maya. "I'm not all alone out here. There are some…animals."

"That's fantastic!" said Jeremie. "This virtual world has an entire ecosystem with virtual living creatures. Can you get closer?"

As he was saying this, the two creatures started to charge up some sort of energy, then fired it at Maya's feet, prompting her to run.

"Jeremie!" called Maya, as shots whizzed past her head. "They're attacking me!"

The two odd creatures started chasing her.

"Run away, Maya!" called Jeremie. "Get back to the tower!"

Just as Maya was a few yards short of the tower, one of the creatures' shots hit her in the back, sending her to the ground with a yelp.

On Jeremie's end, there was a notification on the screen saying that Maya's life was in danger, complete with a red flash on the screen.

"Maya!" Jeremie said, worried. "Hurry up!"

Maya got back up and ran back into the tower, where she fell onto the platform. Meanwhile, back in the computer lab, Jeremie's screen stopped flashing, and Jeremie let out a sigh.

"Your…your life points are regenerating," said Jeremie.

* * *

Back at the academy, Jim had just finished showing the team of Alliance soldiers around the campus.

"Right," said Jim. "You need any questions answered, don't hesitate to come see me."

Tommy tapped on Broot's shoulder.

"I won't be coming to him for an exercise regimen," said Tommy. "I can tell you that."

Tommy and Broot both stifled a laugh.

"I have a question," said Eddie.

"What is it?" asked Jim.

"Will it be an issue if we have our weapons with us?" asked Eddie. "As a patrol unit, we need to be able to defend ourselves."

"He's right," said Derrick. "We can't go running to our base for equipment when an attack happens."

Jim grumbled.

"They shouldn't be a problem as long as you keep them sheathed and disable any firing mechanisms," he said. "I'm like Mr. Delmas. I know you guys need to be here, but I also don't want to see any of our students hurt."

"We understand, Mr. Morales," said Derrick. "But like I told Mr. Delmas, we're trained to protect civilians however we can."

"Jim is fine," said Jim. "And I hope you're as good as you claim."

"Between you and me, Jim," said Derrick, "I hope you never get the chance to find out."

As Derrick and Jim finished their conversation, Odd and Ulrich were by the vending machine, each enjoying their own treat.

As a tall girl wearing all black finished at the vending machines, Odd looked at Ulrich and spoke.

"You know what I was thinking?" he asked.

Ulrich watched as the girl walked away from them.

"You know your girlfriend there?" asked Odd. "Sissi?"

Ulrich whirled around to Odd.

"She's NOT my girlfriend," said Ulrich, taking a swig from the can in his hand.

"Cool!" exclaimed Odd, crumpling up his paper cup and throwing it in the trash. "So that means she's available."

At that moment, Jeremie crossed over to the vending machines in front of them.

"I'm telling you," said Ulrich. "She's lame. Plus, no offense, but you're not her type."

"Oh yeah, I hear that a lot," said Odd.

At that moment, they heard Jeremie start to yelp next to them. His glasses fell off his face and his hair started going in all directions. His body was also lit up with electricity from the machine.

"Belpois!" exclaimed Ulrich.

He ran over to Jeremie, who had collapsed against the vending machine.

Hearing the commotion, the school's guests from the Alliance ran over to see what was the matter.

They saw the two boys low to the ground, by the vending machine.

"Hey, Belpois," said Ulrich, setting Jeremie against the wall and putting his glasses back on. "You okay?"

The other boy was too stunned to answer.

Derrick and his team approached Ulrich and Jeremie.

"What happened?" asked Derrick.

Ulrich looked up at the soldiers and indicated Jeremie.

"Belpois was trying to get something from the vending machine and got zapped!" he exclaimed.

Lexi got down on the ground and took a closer look at Jeremie. She brought out her omni-tool and did a quick scan of his body.

"What are you doing?" asked Ulrich.

"It's okay," said Lexi, smiling. "I'm a paramedic. I can take care of him. Don't worry."

"We can vouch for that," said Tommy, getting on his own knees and looking at Jeremie. "What do you see, Lexi?"

"Nothing too serious," she said. "Just a minor electrical shock and some superficial burns."

"You wanted some juice?" asked Ulrich. "Well, you got some."

"Very funny, Stern," said Jeremie, grinning. "But thank you for your help all the same."

"No problem," said Ulrich.

"I did say it was nothing too serious," said Lexi, "but it wouldn't be a bad idea to take him to the infirmary just in case."

"Okay," said Ulrich. "I'll bring him to the infirmary and come check on him again when I get done with my martial arts class."

With that, Ulrich got down on one side of Jeremie and hoisted him up. Villick saw him do this and went to Jeremie's other side, slinging his arm over his own shoulders.

"Come on," said Villick.

The two brought Jeremie out of the little dugout that the vending machine rested in.

"Eddie," said Derrick. "Take a look at that vending machine. There could be something wrong with it. We don't want this happening to anyone else.

"Yes sir," said Eddie. "Right away, sir."

Eddie walked around his comrades and their patients and examined the vending machine with his omni-tool. Meanwhile, Derrick and company escorted Ulrich and Jeremie to the infirmary. In the meantime, Odd went to find the nearest teacher to tell them what happened to Jeremie. Once at the infirmary, Ulrich and Villick set Jeremie down on one of the cots. Derrick went to the school nurse, Yolanda Perraudin and let her know of the situation.

"Thank you for bringing him here, um…is it Captain?" asked Yolanda.

(A/N: Yolanda Perraudin – Jodi Forrest)

"Derrick Savage, ma'am," said Derrick. "Just Derrick Savage."

"I see," said Yolanda. "Well, I appreciate you and your men bringing him here. I can attend to him here if you have something you need to do."

"Much obliged, ma'am," said Derrick. "Thank you."

Derrick turned to leave and signaled for his men to follow. Villick gave Jeremie's shoulder a gentle pat before following his comrades out the door. Just as the group was leaving the infirmary, Derrick heard a chirp, followed by Eddie's voice.

"Um, Derrick?" he asked. "Are you there? Can you hear me?"

Derrick put his hand to his ear as he continued to walk down the hall.

"Loud and clear, Eddie," said Derrick. "What's up?"

"Well, I finished taking a look at that vending machine," said Eddie.

"Hang on one sec, Eddie," said Derrick. "I'm patching in the others."

Derrick tapped his omni-tool in a few spots and spoke again.

"Okay, Eddie," said Derrick. "Go ahead."

"Okay, I finished scanning that vending machine," said Eddie. "I can't find anything wrong with it. I don't see anything that could have caused a short circuit like that. No conductive fluids, no tampering with the machine, which surprises me for a middle school, and no problems with the outlet. I also can't find any trace of tech damage."

"Okay," said Derrick. "Stay there. We'll meet you and further assess the situation."

"Yes, sir," said Eddie.

"And stop calling me sir," said Derrick.

Derrick cut the feed and led his team to the door, where they exited and rushed over to the vending machine.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Eddie?" asked Derrick.

"No," said Eddie.

"Do you have any guesses about what exactly happened yet?" asked Derrick.

"Not at the moment," said Eddie. "I would say it was a simple short circuit, but I'm not even finding any evidence to support that."

"Save a scan of the machine and do a more intensive analysis of it back at the base," said Derrick.

Eddie swiped his omni-tool over the machine one more time, and then let the orange interface vanish before rejoining his teammates.

"What do we do now?" asked Eddie.

Derrick looked around the area.

"Well, we have to insure the safety of the students _and_ the professors above all else," said Derrick. "Morales patrols the halls in the dormitory buildig already, but it would perhaps be best for two of us to patrol the dorm buildings. One on each floor. So, Eddie, you take the boys' floor. Lexi, you take the girls' floor."

"Are…you sure, Derrick?" asked Eddie. "I can do something else, if you want."

"I think you can handle the dorms, Eddie," said Derrick.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Broot. "I already know I'm not gonna get to knock some heads anytime soon, so let's hear it."

"Broot, you and Villick should patrol the perimeter," said Derrick. "Me and Tommy will head back to base and make sure our defenses are well set up. After that, I'll join you on perimeter while Tommy will patrol the teachers' quarters."

The team broke up and went in their designated directions. Derrick and Tommy left the grounds and walked the block or so it took to get to their base.

"Let's review what we have set up, Tommy," said Derrick.

"Before we do, let me just ask: do you really think it was a good idea to let a krogan-raised dude rig explosives around our base?" asked Tommy.

"Not my best idea, but far from my worst, Tommy," said Derrick. "If there's one thing that krogan know, it's explosives. Besides, no matter what you think of Broot, he's not stupid. A little crazy, sure, but smart enough not to let civilians get hurt by something we could easily prevent."

"Okay," said Tommy. "That's a fair point. But I still have to disagree with you on letting him cook our meals. Last time, I swear to God he marinated our steaks in ryncol!"

Derrick Nodded.

"No argument there," he said. "Anyhow, since we're mainly worried about the geth, I had him rig EMP charges around our base in case the geth get too close."

"Right," said Tommy. "Then you had Eddie program the sensors to recognize our signatures."

"Correct," said Derrick. "I also had Broot rig some traps around our rooms that will go off if anyone without our authorization gets too close to our quarters. Thanks, once again, to Eddie."

"How do we check to make sure that they're working?" asked Eddie.

"We'll make sure that they're set up the way they should be," said Derrick. "After that, it's in God's hands. I don't like leaving things to chance, but in this case, we might have to."

Derrick led Tommy around the base to check their setup. After a good hour or so, they determined all the charges and security precautions to be properly set. Derrick gave Tommy a nod of approval, and led him back to the academy, where they split up to do their duties.

While Derrick went to join the perimeter patrol, Villick was making another pass around the campus. His attention was caught by the gymnasium, which had its light on. He inspected the building more closely and through the window he saw Jim and Ulrich. This time, Ulrich was dressed in what he could only assume were human sparring clothes. He glanced left and right to see if he could spot any potential threats. Finding none, he returned his gaze to the interior of the gym. For a moment, he pondered the odd coincidence that the "gym teacher's" name was "Jim." He shrugged and paid attention to what was happening.

Jim looked over Ulrich.

"How are you all?" asked Jim. "I'm happy to see so many of you here tonight!"

Villick's mandibles twitched. He only saw Ulrich there, and briefly wondered if Jim was delusional.

"Canari paya!" called Jim. "Kogusoku! Jutsu! No, these are not dishes served at the Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant."

He laughed as a tall girl wearing sparring sweats came out to join them.

"Uh, no offense, Miss Ishiyama," said Jim.

"None taken, sir," said the girl, Ishiyama. "I'm Japanese."

(A/N: Yumi Ishiyama – Mirabelle Kirkland)

The girl took a seat to Ulrich's left.

"Yeah," said Jim. "Right. Whatever. Anyway! These are combat techniques that can save your life, as they did for me when I was a forest ranger in Quebec."

"Really?" asked Ulrich. "What happened?"

"That night," said Jim, "well, I was quietly enjoying a waffle with maple syrup by my campfire, when I was attacked by a vicious beaver! Its razor sharp teeth were going for my jugular, but I was able to save myself, thanks to my perfect mastery of the Raging Fist of Lei Fu Chang!"

There was silence for a brief moment, until both teens burst out laughing. Villick nearly did, too, for he had read about Earth wildlife and, while admitting he didn't know for sure, sincerely doubted that "beavers" would be that much of a threat.

"What?" asked Jim. "What's so funny about that?"

"Excuse us, sir," said Ishiyama, still laughing.

"Honestly, I think you would have been better off not talking about it," said Ulrich.

"Right," said Jim. "Okay, then. Enough laughing. Let's get into groups of two."

Ulrich and the girl Ishiyama did as instructed and paired up. The two bowed to each other before assuming defensive stances. The two circled each other momentarily before starting to trade blows. After one unsuccessful strike, Ishiyama performed a perfect backflip that left Villick slack-jawed. As she landed, she immediately resumed her pose.

"Hmph, pretty good for a beginner," said Ulrich.

At that moment, the girl let out a loud battle cry and performed a spin kick, which hit Ulrich square in the cheek, sending him to the ground. She then jumped on top of Ulrich. The two struggled or a few seconds, but then stopped for some reason. The duo's cheeks turned a light red.

"Not bad," said Jim. "But you could both use a lot more work. That'll do it for tonight, kids. Bow to each other now, and go get some beauty sleep."

He indicated the gymnasium door.

The young sparring partners stood up from their spot on the floor. The girl bowed slightly, while Ulrich ignored the gesture, about-faced and walked out of the gym, leaving the girl appalled.

"Well," spat the girl. "Nice to meet you too."

As he watched the display, Villick shook his head, chuckling lightly under his breath. He looked about the area once again to see if anything had changed, and then moved on with his patrol, all the while keeping a look out for Broot.

Meanwhile, Ulrich had walked into his room on the boys' floor. A mere second after opening the door, he recoiled.

"What the-?!" he exclaimed.

Inside, he saw Odd laying on his side of the room, while his own side of the room was utterly destroyed. The culprit made itself known when it popped out from under the covers: a small, weird-looking dog.

"What is with this mess?!" demanded Ulrich. "Where did that mutt come from?"

Odd sat up on his bed.

"That's Kiwi," he said. "My dog. He just had a little fit, that's all. You understand. The poor thing's not used to being cooped up."

"I mean, look at this!" exclaimed Ulrich, gesturing to the mess the dog had made. "My CD's, my clothes, he's trashed everything, and- Ugh! Did you see what he did in my bed?"

Odd recoiled from the sight.

"Uh…well, sorry, but I couldn't take him out with everyone around," said Odd. "There are no dogs allowed at Kadic."

"No kidding!" said Ulrich. "I bet the principal's going to be interested in hearing about this!"

With that, he slammed the door and walked away. He was about to go to the principal's office when he heard what sounded like yelping and wailing. He looked in the direction of the noise and realized that it was coming from Jeremie's room. He opened the door and charged into the room, immediately catching sight of Jeremie being attacked by two small, crudely-built robots.

"Hang on!" exclaimed Ulrich, grabbing at one of the machines.

As Ulrich worked to remove the one on Jeremie's head, one came up and zapped his leg. Ulrich kicked his leg, sending the little robot flying, and finally managed to pry the one attacking Jeremie off of him.

"Your little friends are kind of aggressive," said Ulrich. "Maybe you should check their settings."

Jeremie moved his desk chair back into place.

"I had nothing to do with it," he said. "They just attacked me all of a sudden."

"You lost me," said Ulrich. "You mind explaining?"

Jeremie looked away.

"No," he said. "Forget it."

"Come on," said Ulrich. "Tell me. Maybe I can be of some help. What if you suddenly get attacked by a hair dryer and I'm not around?"

"Very funny," said Jeremie.

Ulrich sat in Jeremie's chair.

"I'm not leaving this room until I know what's up," he said.

Jeremie leaned against his desk momentarily, pondering. Finally, he got away from the desk.

"Okay," he said. "What have I got to lose? I'm already in over my head so I might as well tell you. This is so crazy!"

He went over to his door and closed it before looking back at Ulrich.

"First, tell me if you can keep a secret," he said.

While Jeremie led Ulrich out to the gymnasium, Broot stomped his foot on the ground in frustration for what must have been the fifteenth time since starting his patrol. He used the flashlight function on his omni-tool to look through what few tree bordered the academy.

"Nothing," he said. "Of course there's nothing, Broot. Your luck's not that good."

He looked down at his omni-tool and deactivated he flashlight function before turning back toward the academy. He then opened a communication channel.

"Could one of you PLEASE tell me you found SOMETHING?!" he growled.

"What's got your quad in a knot?" asked Tommy.

"I haven't found a single Johnny Five wannabe out here," said Broot. "This assignment's feeling more and more like bullshit."

"You should have listened to me," said Tommy.

"Guys…" came Derrick's voice in a dangerous tone.

"Yes?" asked Broot.

"What did I say?" asked Derrick.

Broot sighed.

"Broot out," he said.

"Tommy out," said Tommy's voice.

Broot stomped again and continued toward the academy.

By that time, Jeremie had led Ulrich through the sewers and to the bridge that led to the abandoned factory.

"That tunnel in the gym is a great way to beat curfew," said Ulrich.

"Yep," said Jeremie. "And there's another one on the campus as well."

He led Ulrich inside, where the bridge ended, and in front of them was a cable that stretched all the way from the ceiling to the floor. Jeremie grabbed hold of the cable and used it to slide all the way to the ground floor of the factory. Once on the ground, he looked up at Ulrich, who hadn't made a move yet.

"What's the matter?" asked Jeremie. "Scared of heights."

"N-no," said Ulrich, grabbing onto the cable and closing his eyes.

He use the cable to slide down to the floor, at which point, he couldn't detach from the cable quick enough.

Jeremie and Ulrich got into the elevator nearby and rode it down to one of the lower levels. Inside the door was the room where Jeremie had talked to Maya. It was a room lit with dim green light and equipped with a large computer with what appeared to be a holographic interface.

"So, that's the mega computer you started?" asked Ulrich, walking over to the computer.

"Yep," said Jeremie. "It's actually a supercomputer. It's ultra-powerful. And while I was examining it, I found out that it runs a virtual universe called Lyoko."

"You know what, Belpois?" asked Ulrich. "This morning's electric shock fried your brain. This thing is just the control center for the factory, that's all."

Jeremie leaned onto the keyboard and typed a command. A window then popped up, showing Maya smiling at her guests.

"Oh yeah?" asked Jeremie. "And what would you call this, huh? A program for spray-painting doors?"

"Hello, Jeremie," said Maya.

"Who's the girl with the pink hair?" asked Ulrich. "Friend of yours talking over webcam?"

"That's Maya," said Jeremie. "She's not from Earth."

"Okay," said Ulrich. "Is she from one of our colonies?"

"No," said Jeremie. "She lives on Lyoko, but I don't know what she's there for yet."

"Don't mess with me, Jeremie," said Ulrich. "This is some VI you programmed, right?"

"No," said Maya. "I woke up the moment Jeremie restarted the supercomputer. I don't know who I am. My memory's been erased."

Suddenly, Ulrich's eyes widened.

"Wait…" he said. "You mean to tell me this thing is a full-on AI?"

"I know what you're thinking, Ulrich," said Jeremie. "But Maya's not dangerous."

"Oh yeah?" asked Ulrich. "How do you know?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" asked Jeremie.

Ulrich shook his head.

"Whatever, Jeremie," he said. "I'll play along for now."

"Maya has to hide in some kind of a tower," said Jeremie. "As soon as she leaves it, she gets attacked by monsters. You've got to believe me, Stern. This is an incredible discovery!"

"Let's say it is," said Ulrich, going over to the chair and sitting down. "What if…what if it's just some kind of giant video game?"

"Then it's a very dangerous game," said Jeremie. "My robots are programmed just to go and fetch a ball. And they just tried to kill me, don't forget. You saw them! What's more, the moment they attacked, a kind of logo appeared on my computer screen; the same one that the monsters had on Lyoko."

Ulrich chuckled wryly

"Better and better," he said. "Do you mean, then, that- that the virtual thing that attacked Maya also wants to kill you?"

"That's what it looks like," said Jeremie.

"You know what?" asked Ulrich. "If that's true, Belpois, if it's that dangerous, I think yo should shut it down and call the police."

"Okay," said Jeremie. "But first I want to help Maya to understand what she's doing on Lyoko."

"Say what?" asked Ulrich.

"I really do," said Jeremie. "And if I'm right, we can materialize her here on Earth."

"Oh, that's too much," said Ulrich. "What makes you think you can?"

"You'll see, Stern," said Jeremie, who then led Ulrich to the elevator once again and used it to take him down one level further.

When they left the elevator, Jeremie showed Ulrich three tubes lined up triangularly in the room, each starting at the floor and almost touching the ceiling.

"What's all this?" asked Ulrich.

"Scanners," said Jeremie. "I still haven't found the program that can bring Maya back to Earth, but I found the one that allows someone to be scanned and sent to Lyoko. In fact, the supercomputer analyzes your molecular structure through these cabins, and then breaks down your atoms before digitalizing them, and re-creating a digital incarnation in the virtual world!"

Ulrich scoffed and scratched his ear.

"Translation?" he asked.

"You go inside the cabin, you're teleported to the virtual world," said Jeremie.

"Jeremie, these things are really old," said Ulrich. "You can tell. There's no way."

"You still don't want to believe me," said Jeremie, exasperated.

"I would love to," said Ulrich. "But virtualization is still being perfected."

Jeremie looked up at Ulrich.

"Why don't we try it out?" he asked. "That way, you can see for yourself. We're gonna need a guinea pig."

Ulrich looked up in thought.

"A guinea pig?" he asked. "No problem."

* * *

Back at the dorm building, Eddie was running another patrol. He had his omni-tool out, but kept the flashlight function deactivated. He snuck along the halls, on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. He saw nobody in the halls. He had not run into Jim since he started his patrol, and was starting to get worried. After a moment of thought, he pointed his omni-tool up at the ceiling and activated his flashlight. Geth stalkers had been known to attach themselves to walls and ceilings, and so he thought he might spot one.

He saw nothing where the light touched the walls and ceiling. As such, he deactivated the flashlight and went about his business. He went for one more cycle through the halls when he caught sight of one of the students. It was Ulrich. He was running in Eddie's direction. Eddie ducked behind the nearest corner and peaked around it. Moments later, Ulrich came running by him, carrying what appeared to be a small animal. Ulrich ran past the corner Eddie had hid behind and started to run to the dormitory exit. Moments later, the boy Odd and a female student ran by him as well. Eddie took off after the three kids, and as he was running after them, he opened a communication channel and patched in Lexi.

"This is Barnes to Rook," he said. "Do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Eddie," said Lexi's voice. "What's up?"

"We've got a problem," said Eddie. "A few of the students just started running from campus. I'm in pursuit, but I could use a bit of help."

"Roger, Eddie," said Lexi's voice. "I'll be joining you in a minute."

Eddie continued to run after the kids. He hid behind a tree every once in a while to make sure the kids didn't find out they were being followed.

"Eddie," said Lexi's voice again. "I just ran into Villick. I'm patching him in."

"This is Villick," said the turian over the communication channel. "I left Broot on patrol of the perimeter. Where are you, Eddie?"

"The kids just ran into the gymnasium. Meet me there."

"Understood," said Villick.

Eddie crept up to the gymnasium door and waited for his comrades. Moments after the communication had been cut, they rendezvoused with him at the door.

"Let's go," said Eddie. "The door to the gym isn't locked, unless they locked it behind them."

Eddie opened the door and the three looked about the room. There was nobody there.

"Where did they go?" asked Lexi.

Villick clicked his mandibles.

"I don't like this," he said. "Search the place, but first, get out your weapons."

Eddie brought up his omni-tool again, while Lexi pulled out her M-4 Shuriken machine pistol and Villick drew his Phaeston assault rifle.

"I'm not picking up any life readings," said Eddie.

"I don't think that scanner will help you with finding organics at the moment, Eddie," said Villick. "They're probably long gone."

Lexi opened a door in the corner of the gym, which seemed to lead into a seemingly disused boiler room.

"Guys," she said. "In here. Let's take a look."

Villick and Eddie followed her into the room.

"Nothing in here that would make a very good hiding spot," said Villick.

Eddie swiped his omni-tool around the room.

"This is weird," he said. "I'm detecting a temperature change behind that door over there."

He pointed to a red door on the other side of the room. Eddie approached it carefully, while Lexi and Villick kept their guns trained on it. Eddie opened the door and looked inside. Lexi and Villick lowered their guns. Inside was a tunnel that went lower and curved to the right.

"A subterranean passage," said Villick.

"Didn't Commander Shepard report something like this on Eden Prime?" asked Lexi.

"No," said Eddie. "The Prothean beacon had already been dug up by the time the geth attacked. There was no need for any tunnels."

"It doesn't seem likely that the geth are involved in this situation," said Villick. "Still, keep your guard up. I'll run point."

He went ahead of them and started to run down the passage. He led Lexi and Eddie to the end of the passage, at which point they came into a sewer.

"Which way, Eddie?" asked Villick.

Eddie immediately brought up his omni-tool and turned on a different colored light than normal. It found disturbances in the sewer passage.

"That way," said Eddie, pointing to their left.

Villick and his comrades followed the path that Eddie had found. Eventually, they found a ladder that led up to a manhole. Villick popped the manhole open and found himself on a bridge that led into an abandoned factory some distance from the academy. They crossed the bridge and finally wandered into the factory.

"Why is he taking Kiwi to this factory?" they heard a voice say.

Villick peeked over the railing and saw the boy, Odd and one of the female students, who he recognized as the principal's daughter, Sissi. He made a motion to Eddie and Lexi to lower their weapons, which they did.

"Who knows?" said Sissi. "Maybe he wants to use him for some horrible science experiment."

"You watch too many horror movies," said Odd.

"Yeah, you're right," said Sissi. "That was pretty dumb. It's probably more like some sort of ritual sacrifice or voodoo thing."

The three soldiers watched Odd and Sissi descend down the ladder that occupied the same shaft as the elevator. After that, Villick signaled for Eddie and Lexi to follow him. Suddenly, Villick tensed his muscles and a thick, bluish purple mist surrounded him. He jumped off the ledge and onto the factory floor, but the fall was a slow one. As he floated down to the floor, Lexi and Eddie took the cable hanging from the ceiling and slid down. He walked over to the elevator shaft and looked down. He could see the two students climbing down after the elevator.

Meanwhile, in the room with the scanners, Ulrich had set the weird-looking canine in one of the gigantic tubes.

"Nice puppy," he said. "Don't move."

As the dog sat in the scanner wagging its tail, Ulrich climbed the ladder up to the computer lab. Once in the room, he addressed Jeremie.

"Everything's cool, Jeremie," said Ulrich. "The mutt is in the scanner."

"'Kay, let's see how it goes," said Jeremie, tapping on the keyboard. "It's not going to be a piece of cake."

Back in the scanner room, Odd and Sissi had climbed down and found the dog in one of the three tubular structures.

"Those things look like coffins," said Odd.

"You're right," said Sissi. "Maybe it's the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh, huh?"

At that moment, Villick and his comrades had climbed down the ladder. He signaled Eddie and Lexi to go into the computer lab while he went into the place Odd and Sissi had dropped.

Lexi and Eddie popped out in the computer lab in time to hear the boy Jeremie from the infirmary speak.

"Right," he said. "We're all set. I'm starting up the procedure."

Meanwhile, Villick came down the ladder to the lower level just in time to see Odd pick up his dog.

"Kiwi!" exclaimed Odd. "Are you okay, boy?"

The dog yipped in response. It then leapt out of Odd's hands. As it did so, the doors surrounding Odd closed.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Sissi. "You're going to be mummified!"

Villick ran toward the structure that now trapped Odd.

"What is going on here?!" he exclaimed.

Sissi looked up at the turian, even more startled now.

"Who-who are you?!" she asked.

Back in the lab, Jeremie was still working with the computer.

"Transfer: Guinea pig," said Jeremie, tapping a key. "Scanner: Guinea pig."

On the screen, instead of a dog, they saw the figure of a young boy.

"Wait," said Jeremie. "That's a weird-looking dog."

"That's no dog!" exclaimed Ulrich. "That's Odd Della Robbia!"

Jeremie's eyes widened as he put his hands to his forehead.

"I-I don't know how to stop the procedure!" he said.

"What procedure?" asked Lexi.

The two boys turned around and saw two of the soldiers who had helped them earlier. For a moment, the boys froze. With no answer, Eddie brought up his omni-tool and opened a communication channel.

"Villick," he said. "You'd better get up here."

"I'm a little busy at the moment," said the voice of Villick, followed by a few grunts.

"I have to insist, Villick," said Eddie. "Something odd is happening."

"Wait!" exclaimed Jeremie. "Please, you don't understand!"

Shortly after Jeremie said that, they heard a scream. Ulrich ran over to the ladder on the side of the room, having recognized the voice as Sissi.

"Man," he sighed.

As all this was happening, Odd was experiencing an interesting sensation: that of being digitized. He materialized in mid-air and fell hard on the ground of what appeared to be a forest, face-first.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "What's going on around here?! Where am I?"

He looked around his point of arrival, seeing nothing but trees and floating platforms. He then looked down at himself, and noticed that instead of hands, he now had cat-like paws, complete with claws.

"And why am I dressed up like a giant purple cat?" he said, taking hold of a protrusion coming out of his backside.

Back in the computer lab, the occupants had all heard Odd's voice, and it seemed to be coming from the terminal. Eddie and Lexi crossed over to where Jeremie sat.

"Uh…Odd Della Robbia?" asked Jeremie.

"Who's calling me?" asked Odd's voice.

"It's me," said Jeremie. "Jeremie Belpois."

"Is this some kind of joke or something?" asked Odd.

"Uh…no," said Jeremie.

As the two were conversing, Ulrich dropped into the lower level, and found Sissi, the dog Kiwi and Villick. Villick was standing near one of the scanners, seemingly trying to pry it open with his hands.

"What the…?" asked Ulrich. "Sissi?"

Sissi looked at where Ulrich had landed.

"Ulrich!" she cried.

As she cried out, the turian soldier rounded on Ulrich.

"You," said Villick. "What's going on here?!"

Before Ulrich could respond, he heard Jeremie's voice come over an intercom system.

"Ulrich, it's okay!" said Jeremie. "Odd is safe and sound on Lyoko."

Back on said virtual plane, Odd was looking around.

"Am I in a video game?" he asked. "It looks like the set from _Babylon Ninja Fighters III_."

"Actually, I don't really know," said Jeremie. "It's a virtual world. That much, I'm sure of."

Odd looked at the landscape behind him.

"Cool!" he said with a smile.

His joy was short-lived, however, as he felt something hit his back, hard. He cried out, then turned to see two short, quadrupedal creatures with weirdly-shaped heads, a red eye just below, and what appeared to be an eye-like emblem on the head.

"Uh…that's a lot less cool," he said, rubbing his back where he had been hit. "Jeremie, there are these giant cockroaches attacking me. Is that normal?"

"Yeah," said Jeremie.

"Oh," said Odd. "Nothing to worry about, then."

"That's not what I meant," said Jeremie, seeing a map of the area Odd was in, along with two markers that must have represented the monsters. "You've got to get out of there."

Villick, Sissi and Ulrich heard Jeremie's voice come over the intercom in the scanner room again.

"Ulrich," said Jeremie. "Della Robbia's in danger, and I need time to de-virtualize him."

"He needs help," said Ulrich. "Do you think you could send Sissi and me to Lyoko?"

Sissi noticeably tensed at Ulrich's mention of the virtual world, while Villick stood with his mouth agape.

"Well," said Jeremie, "I could always try."

"What?" asked Sissi. "Send us where, Ulrich?"

"To a virtual world where weird monsters want to massacre you," said Ulrich. "You wanted to go out with me. Now's your chance."

Sissi backed off a fraction of an inch.

"No thanks," she said. "I prefer real worlds. I'm not into the other kind. Plus, I couldn't possibly miss cheerleading practice tomorrow morning."

Ulrich walked past Sissi and into another scanner, smiling.  
"See you, chicken," he said.

"Now, wait a minute," said Villick, placing his hands on the sides of the scanner. "Just what is going on here?"

"Look, just go upstairs and talk to Jeremie," said Ulrich. "He'll explain everything. Jeremie, I'm ready to go."

"Okay," said Jeremie's voice over the intercom. "I'm starting the procedure."

The scanner doors closed. As they did, Villick growled and led Sissi and Kiwi to the elevator, where he pushed the "up" key.

The elevator brought him up to the computer lab while Jeremie started the process for sending Ulrich to the newly-discovered virtual universe.

"Transfer: Ulrich," said Jeremie.

Lexi and Eddie stood watching nervously and waiting for whatever explanation could be managed.

"Scanner: Ulrich," said Jeremie. "Virtualization."

Back on Lyoko, Odd was running through the forest.

"Odd," said Jeremie. "Hang in there. Ulrich Stern is on his way to give you a hand."

"Great," said Odd. "I was starting to get bored here all alone."

As he spoke, he looked up and saw the body of Ulrich materializing on the virtual plane. After materialization was complete, he fell to the ground, no more gracefully than Odd had.

"Ow!" said Ulrich as he made contact with the ground.

Odd examined Ulrich's virtual form. It was Ulrich in a yellow and black training gi with a headband, and a sword in a scabbard on his left side. Ulrich drew his sword and swung it from side to side.

"Wow," he said. "This sword rocks!"

"Hey," said Odd. "That's not fair! How come he gets to be a samurai? That's so much cooler!"

"I have no idea why," said Jeremie. "Maybe the computer just reads into your own subconscious desires, and projects them onto your digital incarnation."

"I don't dream about giant purple cats!" declared Odd. "What's more, I'd rather have a weapon like Ulrich, not these great, big, useless paws-"

Odd was cut off as his hands accidentally came in contact with each other and a projectile of some sort came shooting out of one of them. It was a small arrowhead. It whizzed past Ulrich and far out into Lyoko.

"Hey," said Ulrich. "Watch out."

Odd scratched his chin.

"These arrows are pretty cool," he said, smiling. "I take back what I said."

Back in the computer lab, Villick and Sissi arrived on the elevator and while Sissi stood gawking in the transport, Villick walked toward the computer and holographic display with purpose.

"Try to hook up with Maya in her tower," said Jeremie. "Hold on. I'll give you the coordinates."

"And who's this Maya?" asked Sissi.

Jeremie nervously turned in his chair toward the three Alliance soldiers, the dog and the principal's daughter.

"And what is all of this?!" Villick demanded.

"It's…it's the mainframe of a supercomputer," said Jeremie.

Right as Jeremie was about to explain further the computer glitched out, and on the screen appeared an eye very similar to the ones on the monsters' heads on Lyoko.

Before any of them could react, they heard a crackling sound and some barking. Looking past the supercomputer, they could see that Kiwi was barking at a bunch of wires that, for some reason, seemed to be moving all on their own.

Shortly after, the wires burst out of the floor, prompting a scream from Sissi.

"Damn!" exclaimed Villick. "Attack positions, everyone."

Eddie and Lexi followed Villick's command, with Eddie bringing out his omni-tool once again and Lexi drawing her Shuriken again.

"Loading with disruptor rounds," said Lexi.

"Preparing tech overload," said Eddie.

Back on Lyoko, Ulrich and Odd were walking through the Forest Sector.

"So, who's this Maya?" asked Odd.

"A virtual girl who lives on Lyoko," said Ulrich.

"Oh, you mean there are babes here, too?" asked Odd. "Great!"

"Yes," said Ulrich, "but I get the impression that Belpois's flipped for her."

"For a virtual chick?" asked Odd. "Is he nuts?"

"Kind of," said Ulrich, looking at Lyoko's sky. "Jeremie? Are you going to give us those coordinates or not?"

All was silent. After a few moments, Ulrich spoke again.

"Jeremie?" He asked. "Are you asleep or what?"

Again, there was no answer.

"Hey, look," said Odd. "I see a tower. It could be that one."

Ulrich shrugged and followed Odd to it. The two stopped short of the tower and approached it carefully.

"Is there a door?" asked Odd.

He placed his hand up against the wall of the tower, only to be surprised when his hand phased right through it, along with the rest of his body, thanks to the weight he had rested against it. When he was inside, he noticed he was about to fall straight down, and just barely managed to grab onto a nearby ledge. It wasn't long after that that Ulrich fell through the tower wall himself, and narrowly managed to take hold of Odd's legs, preventing him from falling.

"I can't hold on much longer!" cried Odd. "You're too heavy! Drop your saber!"

"Nice try, but forget it!" said Ulrich.

A mere second later, Odd lost his grip on the ledge, and the two fell, screaming, into the dark abyss below the platform.

However, the two eventually came out of their fall, not a scratch on them. And when they did, they found themselves in a land of ice and snow. It was visibly darker than the previous sector. They took a look around.

"Okay, right," said Odd. "Where are we? Where did the forest go?"

"How should I know?" asked Ulrich. "But you see the tower over there?"

He pointed to a tower somewhat like the one they occupied, which was glowing with a red mist.

"Weird how it's not the same color," said Ulrich.

Something caught Odd's eye, and he turned towards it.

"And those creatures," he said. "They're kind of weird, too."

He indicated a trio of block-shaped monsters that were on four legs, and had the same eye-like symbol on each of their faces.

One of the creatures stopped, spun its head around, and charged up one of its eyes with red energy.

"Might be a good thing to beat it, don't you think?" asked Ulrich.

Odd shook his head in the affirmative, and the two boys fled from their attackers, who were now all shooting blasts of energy at them.

Unbeknownst to Ulrich or Odd, Jeremie was protecting himself with the supercomputer's chair while the three Alliance soldiers began to attack the live wires that sprung from the ground. Meanwhile, Sissi stood in the elevator, trying to coax the still barking Kiwi to do battle.

"Sic 'em, I said!" exclaimed Sissi. "Sic 'em, you dumb mutt!"

Lexi started to fire shots at the wires, hoping to disrupt the flow of electricity to them. Villick brought out his Phaeston and started to fire at the lower part. His shots dug in, but seemed to have no effect.

"Deploying tech overload!" exclaimed Eddie waving his omni-tool.

A flash of electricity exploded around the wires, and seemed to hinder them for a brief moment, but then the wires came forth and took hold of Jeremie. Electricity coursed through the boy. He picked up a nearby loose tile and used it to try and stop the electricity, but the tile instead conducted the voltage. Villick put his assault rifle away and waved his arms, causing two short blades to extend from the armor on his arms, near the place where his elbows would have been.

"Alright," he declared. "Hard way it is."

His body once again glowed with the bluish purple mist from before. As he got close to the wires, they attempted to jab at him, but Villick dodged, using his biotics to teleport out of the way of the attacking wires.

"Keep firing at it, Lexi," said Villick. "But don't hurt the boy!"

Lexi kept firing at it while Eddie deployed a combat drone. The drone wandered over to the wires and started to sap the electricity it was pouring into Jeremie. Meanwhile, Villick charged toward the wires and swiped at them with his arm blades. He received a bit of a shock, but was able to disconnect one or two here or there.

Back on Lyoko, Odd and Ulrich were eventually surrounded by the odd creatures and instead decided to make a stand.

One creature tried to fire an energy blast, but Ulrich deflected it with his sword. The second one fired a blast of ice at him, which he dodged. Then, the third one tried to hit him with a regular energy burst, which he again blocked with his sword. This time, though, he used a sort of super speed ability, which made him a passing blur.

"Wow," said Odd.

The three creatures fired at them again. Ulrich blocked with his sword, and Odd somehow brought up an energy shield that absorbed the attacks. Ulrich charged at one of the blocky creatures and jumped on top of it, delivering several hard slashes with his sword before jumping off.

Ulrich blocked yet another energy blast before groaning.

"So, how do you kill these things?" he asked.

Odd got ready to fire one of his arrows.

"I wish I knew!" he said. "Hey, you wouldn't know how many life points we have?"

"No," said Ulrich, blocking another attack.

One of the laser blasts, however, hit Odd, and he started to disappear. Momentarily, Ulrich panicked, but then he ran forward and did a jumping attack, jabbing the sword into the eye-like emblem on one of the block-like monsters. He pulled the sword out and jumped off with a triumphant yell in time for the monster to explode.

Ulrich landed on his feet and pumped his fist.

"Yes!" he said.

However, his triumph was cut short by a shot from one of the monsters hitting him in the back, making him disappear too.

The two boys didn't know how, but the next moment, they were in the scanners they had went into in the first place. Ulrich rubbed the back of his neck.

"Great," he said. "Well, at least we're alive."

"Alive?" asked Odd. "Well, if you say so. I think I'm about to throw up."

"Hel-help us!" came the voice of Sissi.

The two went back up the ladder to the computer lab, and found Jeremie suspended in the air by several moving live wires, and the three Alliance soldiers trying to rescue him. He saw the turian charging at the structure with tremendous speed and trying to cut at the wires bit by bit.

"Ulrich!" cried Sissi, who cowered in the elevator.

Ulrich looked up at Jeremie.

"Hang in there, Jeremie!" yelled Ulrich.

He picked up one of the loose pieces of metal and used it to try and cut one of the wires. The electricity from the wire flowed through the plate and shocked Ulrich, causing him to scream in pain. Eventually, it overwhelmed him, sending him to the floor. As he was recovering, the wire was about to come down and attack him. However, Ulrich's body was illuminated in a flash of bluish purple and a barrier erected itself in front of him, protecting him. The act put a lot of strain on his head, and he felt something warm start to drip from his nose.

The barrier did not need to be up for long, as the wire halted its attack for some reason.

"It works the second time!" exclaimed Odd.

Ulrich looked over to see Odd with the same tile he was using, jamming it through the attacking wire.

"I told you that by the end of the day, you wouldn't be able to do without me!" he said.

He cleaved through the rest of the wire, which fell limply to the ground.

"Now's our chance!" said Villick, going for the wires that held Jeremie.

"Keep going, Troy!" exclaimed Eddie.

His decoy continued to absorb as much energy as possible while Lexi kept shooting at the base of the wires. The decoy eventually self-destructed.

"No!" exclaimed Eddie.

However, that was exactly the opening Villick needed, and he charged forward, slashing with both of his elbow blades, causing the wires to collapse and leave Jeremie back on the ground, unharmed.

No sooner had Jeremie touched the ground did he wander over to the computer and reboot it.

"Maya?" he asked. "Are you there?"

On the screen appeared the familiar pink-haired girl.

"Yes," said Maya. "Is everything okay on your side?"

Jeremie smiled.

"Well, we're a little shaken up, but it could have been worse," he said.

"Yes," said a voice.

The children all turned around and noticed the three Alliance soldiers standing there with their arms crossed, except for Eddie, who looked somewhat curious.

"It very well could have," said Villick. "And it might have, if we hadn't been here. Now, I believe you all owe us an explanation."

To Be Continued…


	2. XANA Awakens - Part 2

Code Lyoko: Eezo

This story takes place in the future…thirty years after the discovery of the mass relays. Five friends fight an evil virus named XANA, but a much greater threat is coming…

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure, non-profit fanfiction. Code Lyoko is the property of Antefilms, Moonscoop, France 3, Canal J, Cartoon Network, Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain. Mass Effect is the property of BioWare, Electronic Arts and Casey Hudson. Please support the official releases.

**2**

Chapter Two

"Xana Awakens – Part 2"

Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd and Sissi were at a loss as the Alliance soldiers stood there, looking at them. Villick stood with his arms crossed, awaiting an explanation.

"I promised Jeremie would explain everything," said Ulrich.

Villick stared over at Jeremie.

"Well, Jeremie?" asked Villick. "I'm waiting."

Feeling the turian's green gaze pierce through him, Jeremie started to sweat bullets.

Lexi came forward and placed a hand on Villick's shoulder.

"Villick," she said. "They've just been through a horrific event. We shouldn't be so harsh with them."

Villick looked over at Lexi.

"I…you're right," he said, looking back over at the students. "Are any of you hurt? Jeremie, Ulrich, I'm especially concerned about you."

Lexi brought up her omni-tool and scanned Jeremie, Odd and Ulrich.

"It doesn't look like there's too much damage sustained," she said.

She looked at Ulrich.

"You might want to get some Kleenex," she said.

"Why's that?" asked Ulrich.

Villick walked over to Ulrich and bent down to his level.

"Because that biotic surge you just had caused a nosebleed," he said.

Ulrich's eyes widened as he swiped his arm over his lip, clearing the blood as much as he could.

"Please don't tell anybody," he said, almost sounding desperate.

Jeremie looked over at Ulrich.

"Ulrich," he said. "You're a biotic?"

Ulrich sighed.

"Yeah," he said. "I didn't know until recently. I started getting these really bad headaches. Sometimes I wouldn't be able to sleep. Then, one day I waved my hand and my trashcan got knocked clear to the other corner of the room."

Villick's mouth hung open.

"So…you don't have an amplifier?" he asked.

"No," said Ulrich. "I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to be shipped off to some special school, and I sure as heck didn't want to be sent off-world."

Villick looked off to the side.

"I can't say I'm not concerned about that," he said. "However, I can understand where you're coming from."

Ulrich looked at Villick.

"So…can you keep it a secret?" he asked.

"Well…we'll see," said Villick. "For the moment, that's not our biggest concern. So, let's…oh, what's the expression? 'Put a…nail in it?'"

"It's 'put a pin in it,' Villick," said Lexi.

"Thank you, Lexi," said Villick. "I'm just glad that none of you were hurt."

His expression turning serious, Villick turned back to face the other children. Jeremie gritted his teeth and started to sweat.

"Jeremie, was it?" asked Villick.

"I helped Ulrich carry you to the infirmary earlier today," said Villick. "Villick Actius, Turian Fleet, inserted with the Alliance Navy. These are my comrades, Eddie Barnes and Lexi Rook."

Jeremie gulped.

"Um…it's…nice to meet you," he said.

Villick gestured to the supercomputer and the holographic display in the center of the room.

"Please explain what all of this is," said Villick.

Jeremie twiddled his thumbs.

"Well, I…" he hesitated. "It's very hard to explain."

Ulrich came forward and put a hand on Jeremie's shoulder.

"It's not hard for him to explain," he said. "Trust me on that. He's just afraid of what you guys will do now."

"Before we decide on what to do about you," said Villick, "we would like to hear your explanation."

"Here's a bit of advice for you, Jeremie," said Lexi. "Just tell the truth. If there's one thing Villick respects, it's honesty."

Jeremie heaved a big sigh.

"I'll try," he said. "But no matter how honest I am, this is going to be really hard to believe."

Jeremie got out of the chair and started to explain his findings.

"I came to this factory a while back while I was looking for parts to finish building some robots that I have in my room," he said. "I didn't find any parts to use in finishing my robots, but…I did find all of this. There is a bunch of unusual technology in this factory."

He indicated the computer next to him.

"This is a supercomputer that I turned on," he said. "It's connected to three scanners further below the factory, and has a power station even further down. I turned it on, and I found out that this supercomputer houses a virtual environment called Lyoko."

"The place where you sent your friends," said Villick. "Correct?"

"Yes," said Jeremie. "And…well, you see…besides the virtual environment, I also found…"

He indicated the window that Maya occupied.

"Hello," she said.

"This is Maya," said Jeremie.

Villick took a closer look at the screen.

"Is this a VI of some sort that came installed on the computer?" he asked.

"I actually don't know what I am," said Maya. "Jeremie asked me about that himself when we were talking a while back, but I don't even know what a VI is."

Villick's eyes widened again.

"I don't think this is a VI," he said.

"Please wait a second," said Jeremie. "Ulrich thought the same thing, but the computer has been on for weeks, and Maya hasn't done anything wrong since I turned it on."

Villick looked skeptical. He looked toward Maya.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions, Maya?" he asked.

Maya shook her head.

"No," she said. "Although, do you mind if I ask a question first?"

Villick shrugged.

"I suppose I have been the one asking them all so far," he said. "So, I suppose a question or two won't hurt. What do you wish to know?"

"What…exactly are you?" asked Maya. "You don't look anything like Jeremie or Ulrich."

"That's because I'm not a human," said Villick. "I'm a turian."

"I…I see," said Maya. "I'm sorry I asked."

Villick gave a grunt of dismissal.

"Under normal circumstances, I would ask Jeremie, but I would like to hear what you have to say," said Villick. "You say you don't know what you are?"

"I don't, no," said Maya.

Villick scratched his chin.

"Well, what _do_ you know?" he asked.

"My first memories are waking up in this tower after Jeremie turned on the computer," said Maya. "After that, we learned of my virtual environment and the creatures that lived on it. I left the tower to try and find out more, but they started attacking me, so I ran away."

"Ran away?" asked Villick. "You move by walking?"

"Well, yes," said Maya. "Is…that not right?"

"Never mind that for now," said Villick. "What are you able to do? Do you have any control over the factory? Can you do anything through the computer?"

"Well, I don't really think I can control the factory at all," said Maya. "And the only thing I've been able to do with the computer is talk to Jeremie and show him what's happening on Lyoko."

Villick looked over at Eddie.

"What's your opinion on this, Eddie?" he asked.

"I'm…not really sure," said Eddie. "The Council's laws state that any AI that is found must be shut down before it can cause any harm."

Jeremie winced as Eddie mentioned that.

"But I don't know," said Eddie. "Maya doesn't act like anything resembling an AI. Yes, she's self-aware, but she doesn't seem to fit the definition in any other way."

He looked toward the computer again.

"Let me just ask you something, Maya," said Eddie.

"Sure," said Maya. "What is it?"

"Do you have any desire whatsoever to hurt organics?" asked Eddie.

Maya suddenly looked appalled.

"I have no desire to hurt anyone!" she exclaimed. "The only thing I want is to understand what I am doing here."

"And that's what I'm hoping to help with," said Jeremie. "And also, I'd like to find out if there's a way that I can materialize her here on Earth."

Villick grimaced at the boy, but then looked back at the computer.

"I am hard-pressed to go along with this," said Villick. "This computer has caused some harm since you've started it up, son."

Jeremie looked at the ground.

"I realize that," he said. "I wish that…that…"

"Let me just finish right now, Jeremie," said Villick. "I don't know what will happen to Maya if the computer is shut down, and if something happens to her, I cannot let my superior get a look at the situation as it stands."

Jeremie looked at the turian.

"So…you mean you'll let it stay on?" he asked.

"For now," said Villick. "I would like the rest of my team to get a look at it. From there, our team leader will decide the fate of the computer. For now, I think it might be best if we all return to the academy and meet in the morning."

He looked over at Ulrich.

"And you," he said. "We'll also discuss your biotics sometime tomorrow."

Ulrich's mouth quivered.

"I understand," he said.

Villick nodded and turned to Lexi and Eddie.

"Let's go," he said.

With that, the three soldiers and the four students left the factory, with Jeremie saying goodbye to Maya on the way out.

As they walked out of the factory, Odd and Sissi came up to the soldiers.

"Hey there!" exclaimed Odd. "I never introduced myself. Odd Della Robbia!"

"No introductions necessary," said Villick.

"So, you're a turian, huh?" asked Odd.

"Yes," said Villick.

"Cool!" exclaimed Odd. "I don't think I've ever seen one of your kind."

"Cool?" asked Villick.

"Totally!" said Odd. "I've never seen any people besides humans before. Are there any other aliens with you?"

Villick shook his head.

"I'm the only 'alien' on this team," said Villick.

"That's too bad," said Odd. "I was hoping I'd get to meet a quarian! Or even an asari! Oh, man, _especially_ an asari!"

"Sorry to disappoint," said Villick.

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant," said Odd. "I-"

Odd felt a tap on his shoulder, turned around and saw Ulrich.

"Quit while you're behind," he said.

Odd sulked while Ulrich addressed Villick again.

"Would you like us to meet you somewhere?" asked Ulrich.

"Tomorrow after breakfast, meet us in the quad," said Villick. "I'll explain to the rest of the team what is going on, and we can…'hash this out,' I believe is the expression."

"Okay," said Jeremie. "We won't disappoint you."

Villick turned toward the boy genius.

"I appreciate your honesty about the situation, Jeremie," said Villick. "Now we can only hope that the rest of the squad holds you in their favor, too."

The group went through the sewer, and the soldiers escorted the students back to their rooms before meeting up with Derrick. Villick, Eddie and Lexi told their comrades about their experience that night. After some talking, Derrick was convinced to go to the planned meeting.

"Villick," said Derrick. "I'm not sure why you decided on a meeting between us and those kids, but I trust your judgment. For now, let's all get some sleep."

"God damn it, Savage!" growled Broot. "Next time, _I_ get to patrol the dorms!"

With that, they all went to their quarters and slept.

* * *

The next day, Ulrich and Sissi were in the cafeteria eating their breakfast. Ulrich sighed as Sissi tried to feed him a croissant, while Sissi looked wistfully at Ulrich.

"Hey, love birds!" said a voice. "Sleep well?"

Ulrich and Sissi looked up from what they were doing and saw Odd, who had changed his hairstyle. It was now gelled back into a large spike behind his head.

"What's with the hairstyle?" asked Ulrich.

"Lyoko-style!" said Odd. "It's pretty trendy, huh? Meow!"

Odd made a feral hand gesture, like a cat ready to pounce, eliciting a groan from Ulrich. He then sat down and started to eat his food like he was starving to death.

"You always eat that much?" asked Ulrich.

"No," said Odd, chewing on a banana. "I'm not that hungry today, in fact. Has anyone seen Jeremie?"

"He was up all night in his room working on Lyoko after he put the computer back together," said Ulrich.

Odd wiped his face with a napkin.

"Man, that guy's a real Einstein!" exclaimed Odd.

"Who's Einstein?" asked Sissi.

Meanwhile, back in his dorm room, Jeremie was talking to Maya over video chat.

"Unfortunately, you're not like Odd or Ulrich," he said. "You can't be devirtualized when you lose all your life points."

"Too bad," said Maya. "At least now I know how to change sectors."  
"Yes," said Jeremie. "And I also found out what the towers are for. They're portals between the real world and the virtual world, and when they're red, it means they're activated."

"Are you sure?" asked Maya.

"Just about," said Jeremie. "And they may be the way to materialize you on Earth. Unbelievable, huh? I can't wait to tell the others about it."

After some more conversation, Jeremie bade Maya goodbye and went to meet with his fellow students and the soldiers who saved their lives the night before. He found Ulrich, Odd and Sissi sitting on a bench in the quad.

"Hey, guys," said Jeremie.

The other students chorused a greeting to Jeremie.

"You at all worried about how this will go?" asked Ulrich.

"What do you expect?" asked Jeremie. "I only meant to tell you, and now six people besides me have found out my secret."

Ulrich grinned.

"'Speak of the Devil and he shall appear,'" he said.

Jeremie looked behind him, and true to Ulrich's quote, the six Alliance soldiers they met yesterday came walking up to them.

"Jeremie Belpois?" asked the leader, Derrick, a young, blond-haired soldier with an impressive physique.

"Yes?" asked Jeremie.

"I'm Derrick Savage," said Derrick. "You've already met my teammates Villick Actius, Lexi Rook and Eddie Barnes."

The three soldiers that helped them the day before acknowledged their indication.

"These are my other two comrades, Brennan Stan and Tommy Dillon," said Derrick.

The remaining two soldiers were one with a medium build, spiky brown hair and a cocky smirk. The other was one with jet-black hair and hundreds of pounds of muscle. The bigger one had to be Brennan.

"Just call me 'Broot,'" said the big one.

"Broot?" asked Odd. "Who names their kid that?"

Broot looked at Odd's hairstyle and shook his head.

"What…the hell…is that?" he asked.

Odd looked up.

"Oh, this?" he asked. "I'm trying out a new hairstyle. Pretty cool, huh?"

Broot shook his head.

"I've seen a lot of cool things in my time," he said. "That…is not one."

Odd sulked.

"Knock it off, Broot," said Derrick.

Broot grumbled under his breath.

"Now," said Derrick. "I understand that we need to discuss something about this computer of yours and your virtual friend."

Jeremie gulped.

"Please try to understand, sir-" Jeremie began.

"Let me just stop you right there, Jeremie," said Derrick. "I'm going to give you the same rule I give my comrades and subordinates. You call me 'sir,' and I turn around looking for my old CO. So, you can just call me either Derrick or Savage."

Jeremie cleared his throat.

"Okay," he said. "Derrick, if you just hear me out on this, I think…you see…Maya is not dangerous. She has had multiple opportunities to try and hurt us and she either couldn't, or she chose not to. I am inclined to think that both would be the case."

"Jeremie," said Derrick. "Is it at all possible that the things you've had happen to you since yesterday afternoon were caused by her?"

Jeremie shook his head.

"It is possible," he said, in a resigned tone. "But I also think it's extremely unlikely. She claims she has no memory prior to my restarting the computer, and if that's the case, I don't think she would have any reason to try and hurt me or anyone. What's more, the symbol that Villick probably told you about that appeared on my computer screen appeared on the appliances that attacked me. The monsters on Lyoko have that same symbol, but Maya doesn't. If she was with those things, why would they attack her?"

"It is possible she was just acting," said Derrick.

"Yes, it is," said Jeremie. "But…Derrick, I just have this feeling, okay? I think she needs help, and I want to give that help if I can."

Derrick nodded.

"Eddie?" he asked. "What are your thoughts?"

Eddie stuttered.

"Well, I…" he began. "I know that AIs are meant to be deactivated upon discovery, Derrick, but there's just something about this Maya that sets her apart from other AIs. Does that make sense?"

Derrick blinked.

"Could you elaborate?" he asked.

"Well, it all boils down to how she acts, Derrick," said Eddie. "Granted, it could be just that – an act, but she didn't demonstrate any knowledge of her environment at all, and if she has any functions, she definitely didn't show that she knew how any of them worked."

"She didn't even remember her name," said Jeremie.

"You said her name was Maya," said Derrick.

"Well, it is, but I named her that," said Jeremie.

Derrick looked at his comrades momentarily, then back to Jeremie.

"Look, Jeremie," he said. "In any other circumstance, I would have to shut down that computer, quite possibly destroy it, and then bring you in."

Jeremie looked to the ground.

"However," said Derrick, making Jeremie look back up at him, "I would like to hear what you plan on doing next. You seem like a good kid, and you would have to be if my comrades trusted you about something like this. So, here's the deal. Why don't you tell us what you plan on doing next, and we'll see if we can help you. Okay?"

Jeremie smiled up at Derrick.

"Alright, Derrick," he said. "I was doing some research last night on Lyoko, and helping Aelita with understanding her environment."

"Yeah," said Tommy. "You might want to fill us in on that, seeing as we may be breaking the law here."

"And use small words, will you?" asked Broot. "Tech stuff is Eddie's department, not mine."

"I'm not sure how much Villick told you about it, so I'll start from the beginning," said Jeremie. "The computer has a virtual world inside it called Lyoko. Maya is trapped in there, and I intend to get her out of it if I can."

"Get her out of it?" asked Lexi.

"Yes," said Jeremie. "I already know how to get people in, and based on that, I think it would be possible to get her out."

"Wait," said Broot. "So you can actually send people into this thing?"

"Yes," said Jeremie. "The computer is hooked up to three scanners in the basement that break you down, digitize you and send you to Lyoko."

"Isn't something like that kind of…oh, I don't know…dangerous?" asked Tommy.

"Normally, I would agree," said Jeremie. "But I've already done it twice."

"Exhibit A," said Odd.

"Exhibit B," said Ulrich.

"Alright," said Derrick. "Now, suppose you know for a fact that Maya isn't dangerous, and suppose you know that you can bring her to Earth somehow. How would you manage that?"

"There is a red tower on Lyoko," said Jeremie. "The towers are portals to the real world, and when they're red, it means they're activated. I think that if you guys can get Maya to that red tower, we can use the tower to send her here."

"You want us to go back to Lyoko to get Maya into a red tower?" asked Ulrich.

"Like I said," said Jeremie, "I'm sure that's the only way to bring her into the real world. Pretty wild, huh?"

"Pretty dangerous, you mean," said Odd. "We could have all been wiped out for good last night."

"Odd's right," said Ulrich. "In all honesty, I think we might be better off shutting down the supercomputer. Too bad for Maya, but still, it's not like she's human."

"But she's still a sort of intelligent being," said Jeremie. "She's got emotions like we do."

Ulrich turned to Odd with a smirk.

"You see?" he asked. "I told you. He's madly in love with a computer program."

"Come on guys," said Jeremie. "Be cool. I'm just asking you to go there one last time."

"We can't even make it past the monsters," said Odd. "We'll probably get ourselves blown away in a heartbeat!"

Broot stepped forward.

"You know what?" he asked. "If any of my squad is too chicken shit to try out this Lyoko or whatever, I volunteer. You say this thing has monsters? Let's see how they stack up to me!"

Ulrich shrugged.

"Well, I guess it won't be as big a deal this time, seeing as we'll have backup," said Ulrich.

Broot snorted.

"Pfft, 'backup,'" he said. "You've got a whole platoon right here. If there's a monster coming at me, I say stuff it with bullets and have it for dinner."

Derrick shook his head at his squadmate's antics.

"Despite Broot's boasting, rest assured, he is a very capable soldier," he said.

"Don't insult me, Savage," said Broot. "You're speaking to a krogan!"

"Krogan?" asked Ulrich. "Your squadmate thinks he's a krogan?"

"Krogan took him in when he was young," said Derrick. "They took care of him and taught him to fight. He's a real blowhard, but he's also a real asset to us."

"I'm the blood brother to the varren that bit Urdnot Wrex's ass!" said Broot.

"Wouldn't that make you a son of a bitch?" asked Tommy.

Broot rounded on Tommy dangerously.

"Enough!" said Derrick.

He put a hand to his head and heaved a huge sigh.

"Well, at least now there's more than just me and Odd," said Ulrich. "Sissi's too scared."

"What?!" demanded Sissi. "No I'm not. I really do want to go with you guys to Lyoko, but when cheerleading practice is over."

"Thanks, Sissi," said Jeremie. "So, here's the scoop. As soon as Maya's materialized into the real world, I give you my word that I'll shut down the supercomputer. Meanwhile, we'll need to keep this quiet."

"Promise," said Ulrich.

"I swear," said Odd.

"Ditto," said Sissi.

Jeremie looked over to Derrick and his comrades.

"I'll keep this a secret," said Derrick. "For the meantime, at least."

Tommy shrugged.

"If Derrick's given you his word, he's just given you all our words," said Tommy.

Sissi leaned back and put her hand on Ulrich's back.

"I can't wait to see what I look like on Lyoko!" she exclaimed.

"Me neither," said Odd. "With some luck, I won't be the dumbest-looking one in the group."

Ulrich got up from the bench and walked away from the group.

"Ulrich, where are you going?" asked Sissi. "Aren't you coming to see my cheerleading routine?"

"No," said Ulrich. "I've got something important to take care of."

Sissi grunted in disappointment.

"Eddie?" asked Derrick.

Eddie brought up his omni-tool and typed on it momentarily. It wasn't long after that when Jeremie's omni-tool pinged.

"I've just sent you our contact info," said Eddie. "Call us whenever you get done with your business today."

"You've got it," said Jeremie. "Thanks."

The group went about their business.

As the group split up, Ulrich went to the gymnasium. Just inside the door and to the left was Ishiyama.

"Back for another thrashing?" she asked, startling the boy.

Ulrich chuckled.

"I don't like ending on a bad note," he said.

Ishiyama walked by him and into the main part of the gymnasium.

"That's good," she said. "I like a challenge."

"You're gonna get one," Ulrich warned, walking in after her.

The two bowed to each other, and then started to circle each other like sharks. They started to aggressively trade blows with each other.

Back outside, Jeremie and Odd were on their way to the library.

"It's true that at first, I thought Sissi was a real babe," said Odd. "But the more I get to know her, the more I realize she's a…uh, how can I put this tactfully?"

"A…turkey?" asked Jeremie.

"Exactly!" said Odd.

* * *

Back on Lyoko, Maya was inside one of the towers. She sat with her legs folded and her eyes closed. Suddenly, she opened them, startled. She stood up from her position on the floor of the tower.

"Jeremie?" she asked. "Jeremie?"

She wandered out of the tower in the Forest Sector, and felt strange tremors in the ground. She followed the tremors, trying to find their source.

By some miracle, she managed to avoid any monsters as her trek took her through the sector, to another tower, and then through the path leading from that tower to a tower in the Mountain Sector, a foggy sector with purple floating platforms and mountains all over.

The girl looked left and right before taking off running from the tower. She kept going until she reached a ledge with a sheer drop to the next part of the platform. She hesitated for a moment, but as soon as she was about to jump, a volley of energy blasts flew by her head. She rushed from the attack and ducked for cover behind the nearest rock.

"Jeremie?" she asked. "Are you there? Answer me."

She looked back at the ledge she had been about to jump over, and found a land bridge that led to another platform. She ran out from behind cover and leapt the ledge. The roach monster that had been shooting at her followed her. She kept running until she came face to face with yet another. She was trapped on both sides, with a sheer drop to her left and right. For a moment, she looked at her options, then went to one of the ledges. She leaned forward, and fell, screaming, further into the sector.

Further down, she landed on her feet and somersaulted into a rested position. She found that the two monsters had followed her off the ledge, as they bounced off the ledge she was on and flew away.

However, Maya's safety was short-lived, as she heard a buzzing sound. To her left, two large, bug-like monsters came flying towards her and fired energy blasts, forcing her to run away.

* * *

In the gymnasium, Ulrich and Ishiyama were hunched over, hands on their knees, breathing as if their lives depended on it.

"Have you been training for long?" asked Ulrich, between breaths.

"Yeah," said Ishiyama. "My parents think it's weird."

"I don't," said Ulrich. "By the way, I'm Ulrich. You, you're…Yuri, right?"

At that moment, Ishiyama did a sweep kick, knocking Ulrich's legs out from under him and laying him flat. Ishiyama stood over him, smiling.

"It's Yumi," she said.

Meanwhile, in the library, Jeremie and Odd were seated at the same table. Jeremie typed on his laptop while Odd doodled on a piece of graph paper.

Jeremie's face lit up as he finished typing.

"Ah-ha!" he interjected. "Bingo."

He turned to Odd.

"A couple of days ago, I dug up a brand-new program on the supercomputer, called 'Return to the Past,' and- …and I just figured out how to activate it," he said.

Odd looked over at Jeremie while the bespectacled boy looked back at his laptop.

"That's great, Einstein," said Odd. "But could you give me a hand with my electrochemistry report?"

"Hey, Odd," said Jeremie. "Are you planning on calling me 'Einstein' forever?"

"Well, why not?" asked Odd. "So, what about my report?"

Jeremie's eyes didn't leave the screen as he answered.

"Well, why don't you say that…that electrochemistry is a science that deals with the relationship between electricity and chemistry?" asked Jeremie. "Then, you say that electrochemistry involves opposing polar systems composed at its two extremes, of electrically conducted material."

"What?" asked Odd. "You mean, all I have to do is say that?"

"Well, no," said Jeremie. "Of course not. You have to give examples."

"Did you hear what happened to Sissi?" said a voice.

Two of the older students, Christophe M'bala and Mathias Durel walked by. Mathias was telling Christophe about something.

"Jim was taking her to the infirmary," said Mathias.

"What'd she do?" asked Christophe. "Pull a muscle in her brain trying to add two plus two?"

"No, man," said Mathias. "She got electrocuted!"

Odd and Jeremie looked at each other knowingly. They both got up from their spots at the table, and went to the infirmary. Just outside the office, they saw Mr. Delmas talking to two of their classmates, Nicholas Poliakoff and Herb Pichon.

"You're the ones who brought Sissi here," said Mr. Delmas. "What happened?"

"She was in her room and she was attacked by an electricity monster that jumped from a coat hanger," said Nicholas.

(A/N: Nicholas Poliakoff – Matthew Géczy)

"Will you try to be serious, Poliakoff?" asked Delmas. "You're the one who's going to get a shock in a moment!"

Yumi and Ulrich were still trading blows in the gymnasium, all of which ended up either missing or being blocked. Ulrich attempted a kick at Yumi, but she caught it and used it to push him backwards. That was, until Ulrich took hold of her shoulders, and used his caught foot as leverage to flip her over and onto her back. He landed on top of her. At that moment, the two realized the position they were in, and their cheeks were coated in red.

Ulrich rolled off Yumi and lay down on the floor next to her.

Yumi was the first to sit up from the floor. She looked over at Ulrich.

"Call it a tie?" she asked.

"Okay," said Ulrich, sitting up himself. "Anyway, I've got to go. My friends are going to start wondering where I am. Same for you."

Yumi and Ulrich both stood up from the floor.

"I don't have any friends," said Yumi.

Just as they were about to leave the gym, the two noticed a great ball of electricity rise from the light above the door.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Yumi. "What is that thing?"

"No time to explain," said Ulrich. "Come on, we've got to get out of here. Quick!"

He took hold of her hand and led her to the far corner of the gym and into the door that led to the underground passage to the factory. Ulrich slammed the door shut behind him. They were safe, for the moment.

"It was as if that electrical thing was alive!" exclaimed Yumi. "What is going on?"

At that moment, Ulrich's omni-tool chirped. Ulrich checked the caller ID and found that the person calling him was Jeremie.

"Yeah, Jeremie?" asked Ulrich, answering.

"Ulrich?" came Jeremie's voice, sounding like he was panting. "Great! I really need you! Sissi just got electrified by some sort of giant…"

"Electric thing?" asked Ulrich.

"What?" asked Jeremie. "Yeah! How did you know?!"

"That same electric thing attacked me in the gymnasium," said Ulrich. "This is getting more and more dangerous. You and your supercomputer!"

"All the more reason to materialize Maya ASAP!" said Jeremie. "We have to get to Lyoko and get her to the red tower! If it works, we'll shut down the supercomputer tonight! We'll call Derrick and the others and meet you in the sewer!"

With that, the call was disconnected.

"Sorry, Yumi," said Ulrich, "but I've got to go."

He started to walk toward the passage.

"Hang on," said Yumi. "You seem to know what's going on here. What was this electrical thing that attacked us, and what is this supercomputer you're talking about?"

"Look," said Ulrich, opening the door. "I don't have time to explain."

"Okay," said Yumi, walking toward Ulrich and grabbing his shoulder. "You have time for a third round, then?"

Ulrich looked back at Yumi.

"You're as stubborn as a mule, aren't you?" he asked.

"That's right," said Yumi. "And since I have no friends, I have lots of time."

Ulrich groaned.

"Come on," he said. "I'll explain on the way."

He led Yumi down the passage, eventually leading her to the sewers, where they met up with Jeremie and Odd.

"Hey," said Jeremie. "Who's that girl?"

"This is Yumi," said Ulrich. "She was there when I was attacked, and she knows how to fight, so I thought-"

"Okay, okay," said Jeremie. "Later. Derrick and the others should be here any second now, so-"

"We're here, Jeremie," said the voice of Lexi.

The group turned behind Odd and Jeremie, and found the six Alliance soldiers, each in their body armor, seemingly ready to fight.

"We came prepared," said Derrick. "Just in case you need support in or out of Lyoko."

Tommy waved his omni-tool over himself, causing a suit of holographic armor to appear over him, while Villick tensed his arms, causing his whole body to become incased in a glowing biotic mist. Broot primed his shotgun while Eddie checked his omni-tool, and Lexi loaded her machine pistol while Derrick checked the systems on his armor to makes sure they were fully functional.

"I see you brought the cavalry," said Yumi. "Who are these guys?"

"We'll introduce you on the way," said Jeremie. "Right now, we've got to get to the factory."

The group broke off into a run. As they did, Broot got a good whiff of their surroundings.

"What an incredible smell you've discovered," he said.

On Lyoko, Maya was again running from the bug-like monsters. She found refuge in a cave, but the creatures eventually found her. They pursued her, and shot her once in the arm, but she was safe once again when she found another tower. She closed her eyes and pivoted off the platform. She fell through the connecting tunnel until she found herself going through the tower on the other end, which led her once again to the ice sector. As she left the tower, she was cornered by two of the block-like monsters that attacked Ulrich and Odd. She ran as fast as she could from the monsters.

Eventually, the students and soldiers made it up to a manhole, which brought them to the bridge leading into the factory. They ran in, and used the cables hanging from the ceiling to slide down to the ground floor, except for Villick, who jumped off the ledge and once again used his biotics to slow his descent. Yumi and Ulrich were the last ones on the bridge. Yumi looked back at Ulrich, who seemed hesitant.

"Don't tell me you're scared," she said, taking hold of the cable in front of her and using it to slide down.

Ulrich followed after her, and the whole group was now on the floor of the factory.

It was a tight fit, but the group all managed to fit into the elevator that went down to the computer room.

"You're kidding me," said Broot.

Once the elevator reached the computer room, Jeremie stepped out and made his way to the chair.

"So, who's this Maya?" asked Yumi.

"You're going to be meeting in just a minute," said Jeremie. "You guys go straight to the scanner room, and get ready for the big plunge."

"Big plunge?" asked Yumi. "But I don't have a bathing suit."

"Relax," said Odd. "You won't be needing one."

"Maya?" asked Jeremie. "Can you hear me, Maya?"

"Jeremie," came Maya's voice from the computer. "I'm-…I'm being chased by monsters!"

"Why did you leave the tower before we got there?" asked Jeremie. "Are you crazy?"

"I heard some strange pulsations!" she exclaimed. "I wanted to see what they were!"

"Alright," said Jeremie. "I'm sending you backup. For now, just try and hide somewhere."

As the elevator went further down and into the scanner room, the whole story was explained to Yumi, who shook her head.

"This story of yours is total mumbo jumbo," she said.

Ulrich stuttered.

"Yeah," he said. "Except that it's for real."

"You guys ready?" asked Jeremie over the intercom, as Ulrich and Odd went into the scanners. "Who's going first?"

"Me and Odd," said Ulrich.

"Okay," said Jeremie. "I'm starting up the procedure."

"Don't tell me you're scared," taunted Ulrich as the scanner doors closed around him.

"Transfer: Odd," said Jeremie's voice. "Transfer: Ulrich."

"Wait!" exclaimed Yumi. "I'm coming, too!"

She stepped into one of the scanners.

"Okay," said Jeremie. "Transfer: Yumi."

The scanner doors closed around her as well.

"Scanner: Yumi," said Jeremie. "Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Ulrich. Virtualization!"

Broot grumbled.

"Hey, four-eyes!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?"

"First of all, it's Jeremie," said Jeremie's voice. "And second, yes I can. What is it?"

"Send me, Tommy and Eddie, too," said Broot. "Like hell if I'm going to stand here while a bunch of kids fight monsters."

"What about the rest of you?" asked Jeremie.

"We'll wait our turn," said Derrick. "Go ahead and send them."

"Okay," said Jeremie. "Get into the scanners."

Tommy, Broot and Eddie did as they were told. Tommy and Broot looked eager, while Eddie merely looked worried.

"Transfer: Broot," said Jeremie. "Transfer: Eddie. Transfer: Tommy."

The scanners booted up and did their thing.

"Scanner: Broot," said Jeremie. "Scanner: Eddie. Scanner: Tommy. Virtualization."

The scanner doors opened back up to accommodate the remaining three soldiers.

"Alright, guys," said Derrick. "Be ready for anything."

"Your turn, Derrick," said Jeremie.

Derrick, Villick and Lexi took their turns in the scanners.

"Alright," said Jeremie. "Transfer, Derrick, Villick and Lexi."

The scanners hummed in preparation.

"Scanner," said Jeremie.

The scanners analyzed their occupants.

"Virtualization!" exclaimed Jeremie.

With Jeremie's declaration, all nine of the group members were now safely on Lyoko. Odd and Ulrich took another look at their virtual selves.

"Bummer," said Odd. "I'm still a big purple cat!"

Odd and Ulrich heard several groans from behind them, following a series of thumps to the ground. The pair looked behind them and found that all of their companions had fallen flat on their backsides, except for Broot, Derrick and Villick, who had their knees bent as they landed, and stood back up.

Broot groaned.

"You look even more ridiculous here than you do on Earth," said Broot.

"Oh yeah?" asked Odd. "Look who's talking."

Broot looked down at himself. He now looked like a large, well-built man with little more than a pair of brown shorts on his body. He was carrying an oversized mallet in his hands.

"What the hell happened to my shotgun?" he asked.

Villick looked at himself.

"At least I still have my blades," he said.

Indeed, he was wearing a pair of bracers that had blades attached, curved downwards and back. He now had a reptilian tail for some reason, and had a thin suit of light green armor that looked medieval.

Eddie looked at his own form and found that he now had a suit of silver armor, a targeting visor on his face, and his hands had been replaced by mechanical ones. He shifted his fingers in certain ways and found that he could turn them into different kinds of tools.

Lexi now had a white outfit, a repeating crossbow and a large kit on her back with a red cross on it.

Tommy now had a deep red outfit and a pair of shields, one on each of his arms, and a bunch of throwing knives attached to a belt on his waist.

The biggest noticeable change happened to Derrick, who now looked like a walking tank. His whole body was covered in thick, dark blue armor, and all along his body were different kinds of firearms.

"Looks like you're the tank for this mission, Savage," said Tommy.

"Like hell he is," said Broot.

The last member of the group to be noticed was Yumi, who now wore a geisha outfit, complete with white makeup.

"Wow," said Odd. "That Japanese outfit is pretty sharp!"

Yumi looked down at herself, and eventually smiled, apparently approving of her Lyoko form.

"That's not fair!" said Odd. "I'm the only one who looks like a nitwit on Lyoko!"

Yumi looked around at the landscape.

"Uh…mind telling me where we are?" she asked.

"In a virtual world," said Ulrich. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it."

"Move it!" said Jeremie's voice. "Maya needs you. She's in danger!"

"Okay!" exclaimed Odd.

He and Ulrich ran ahead, followed shortly by Yumi and their other friends.

"Here we go!" said Odd.

The group kept running until they found a bunch of the block monsters cornering a girl with pink hair.

"There she is!" exclaimed Lexi. "We've got to help!"

"I'm on it!" yelled Broot.

He brandished his hammer and ran toward the one on the left, while Ulrich did a jump-stab at the monster on the right.

Broot kicked the monster out of the way before wheeling back and slamming his hammer into it, causing it to fall over on its side.

Eddie's visor started to go crazy. It created a heads-up display with squares that seemed to lock on the monster's eye emblems.

"Broot!" yelled Eddie. "Try hitting it in one of its eyes!"

Broot brought his hammer up and slammed it into the block monster's eye, causing it to self-destruct.

While Ulrich, Broot and Derrick took care of the attacking monsters, Odd, Eddie, Tommy, Lexi and Villick formed a defense around Maya. Tommy slammed both his shields together, making a phalanx separating the group from the monsters. Odd looked at Maya.

"Hi," he said. "Are you Maya? I'm Odd. I have to admit, you are a real cutie. Jeremie's got taste."

As Ulrich took care of another one of the block creatures, he looked back at Odd.

"No time for flirting, Odd," he said. "We have work to do."

Eddie's heads-up display started to work on its own again.

"I've got an idea," he said.

He started to pick up the parts that remained of the monsters, which didn't disappear after he touched them. He then pulled a few things out of some of the pouches on his outfit and started to put them together. His hands turned into a screwdriver and a series of wrenches, which he used to piece together the conglomeration.

"What are you doing?" asked Odd.

"This," said Eddie, stepping back.

In front of him was an automatic turret. It whirled around to the monsters and started firing at them until they self-destructed.

"Nice, Eddie!" said Tommy.

Yumi looked at herself once again.

"I don't have a weapon," she said.

However, as she looked behind her, something protruded from behind the bow of her obi. She pulled it out and learned that it was a fold-out fan.

"A fan?" she asked. "That's all?"

Odd fired a couple of laser arrows at the monsters in front of her, and Lexi did the same.

"Try throwing it," said Odd. "You never know!"

Yumi did as instructed and threw her fan. It spun like a Frisbee and whizzed by the remaining two attacking monsters, slicing the both on the eye emblem. Afterwards, it returned to Yumi and was once again harmless.

"Not bad," said Ulrich.

"Wow," said Yumi. "I think I'll keep it."

"Nice work," said Jeremie's voice. "Now, bring Maya into the red tower so we can materialize her."

As the group started running in the direction of the red tower, Jeremie's voice came over the intercom once again, nervously.

"Hey, Odd," he said. "I think I've got a good life-size example for your electrochemistry report."

"Oh yeah?" asked Odd. "And what's that?"

"A nice little electric monster," said Jeremie. "Where are you guys?"

"We're coming up to the tower!" said Ulrich.

"Hurry it up, then," said Jeremie. "Things are about to start jumping over here!"

Just then, Jeremie got an alert onscreen. Two monsters walked out from behind a pair of giant stalagmites around the tower.

"Watch it, guys!" said Jeremie. "There are some more monsters coming your way!"

As the group neared the tower, they were set upon by a pair of giant crab-like monsters, causing them to stop short.

"Great," said Odd. "Crabs! Who's got the tartar sauce?"

Derrick drew a missile launcher from his back as Broot ran forward with his hammer drawn.

"Flank them!" exclaimed Derrick.

With that, the other members of the groups ran around the ice mounds on the terrain and started to attack. Odd climbed up a wall of ice and started firing laser arrows at one creature, while the other creature started chasing after Ulrich, who absorbed the blasts with his sword. Villick ran toward the one that chased Ulrich and started to slash at its legs. Meanwhile, Lexi fired her repeating crossbow at the one attacking Odd, and Eddie started to build another turret to protect the group. Tommy and Maya stuck together. Tommy slammed his shields together again and used them to protect them.

"Stay behind me, Maya!" said Tommy.

Yumi ran toward the one that attacked Odd and Lexi.

"Beat it, crabs!" yelled Odd, firing another arrow. "The tide is coming in!"

Yumi brought her fan out again and threw it, grazing the top of the crab, but otherwise having no visible effect.

"Wow," said Odd. "These guys are not only ugly. They're tough."

The crab fired another blast at Odd. The blast devirtualized him. It then fired a blast at Eddie, just as he finished building another turret.

Eddie groaned as the blast hit his head and he was devirtualized.

"Jeremie!" called Maya. "Odd and Eddie just got devirtualized. Jeremie?"

Yumi caught her fan and started to run away from the crab, which started to chase after her.

"Why won't he answer?" asked Ulrich.

"If I had to guess, probably that electric thing you guys mentioned," said Derrick, firing another missile at their crab's backside. "But Eddie's back with him now. He'll be able to help."

The other crab, Villick had finally managed to get on its knees. Broot brought his hammer up again and slammed it onto the Crab's back, causing a very large crack where the eye symbol was. The dismembered crab exploded. Ulrich turned his attention to the one that was chasing Yumi, and ran up to her.

"You want to give it a try?" asked Ulrich.

Yumi nodded and did a baseball slide while Ulrich ran ahead and came back around. Yumi lifted her feet up, and Ulrich used them as propulsion to do a long jump onto the other crab's back, at which point he jabbed his sword into the eye and caused the monster to explode.

However, without Jeremie to back them up, the team didn't take notice of a third crab coming out from behind one of the ice structures.

While taken by surprise, Yumi threw her fan, grazing the monster's carapace. But the crab monster simply charged up a shot and fired, hitting Yumi in the leg.

Ulrich ran toward the new arrival and jumped toward it, but the crab used its leg to deflect his assault and send him flying. The impact with the ground caused him to get devirtualized. He was flung toward Maya and Tommy, who were set up near the turret that Eddie built before being devirtualized.

As he fell apart, Ulrich looked up at Tommy and Maya.

"Guys," he said. "Get back to the red tower!"

With that, he was back on Earth.

The group's remaining members gathered up Yumi and were chased by the remaining crab to the place where Maya and Tommy took shelter. It primed its laser, but then Maya knelt down and closed her eyes. She folded her hands, and a strange sound emitted from her mouth, almost like singing. In between the group and the crab was now a wall of ice.

Yumi looked over at Maya.

"Was it you who just did that?" she asked.

"Yes," said Maya. "I think so."

"Alright," said Yumi.

"Run to the tower, Maya," said Lexi. "We'll hold it off while we've got its attention."

As Maya took off for the red tower, the monster fired at the wall of ice. The fighters drew their weapons and took a stance.

"It's not going to be pretty when he busts through there," said Broot.

Yumi looked up.

"Jeremie, it's okay!" she said. "Maya's-"

The crab finally broke through the wall of ice, and the shards blasted outwards, devirtualizing the rest of the group.

Inside the tower, Maya walked to the center of the platform, and found herself being propelled to another, higher platform. As she walked to the center of it, she was startled by a small, holographic interface that popped up. She looked left and right, and then, seeing that nothing was attacking, stepped forward and tapped it with her hand. The screen beeped and a word typed itself onto the screen:

**AELITA**

"Aelita," she said, smiling.

The word left the screen to be replaced by another inscription:

**CODE:**

**LYOKO**

Back on Earth, the team members that were devirtualized climbed up to the room to meet back up with Jeremie. They found saw electricity crackling at first, but it eventually fizzled out.

"What's going on here?" demanded a voice. "What were those flashes?"

Ulrich climbed up from the scanner room and saw that in addition to Jeremie, the computer room had three new occupants: Mr. Delmas, Jim and Sissi.

"Sissi?" asked Ulrich.

"Ulrich!" Sissi cried with joy, running forth to greet him.

Ulrich sidestepped her before she had the chance to hug him.

"You swore to us you wouldn't tell!" exclaimed Ulrich.

Just as he was speaking, Yumi, Odd, Derrick, Broot, Villick, Eddie, Lexi and Tommy climbed up from the scanner room after him.

Sissi's expression changed from a smile to a frown.

"I came here to save you, Ulrich!" she said. "And what's this Chinese girl doing here, huh?"

"I am JAPANESE!" exclaimed Yumi.

"What about Maya?" asked Jeremie. "Is she here?"

"No," said Ulrich. "Sorry, Jeremie, but it didn't work. She didn't materialize."

"Alright," said Delmas. "That's enough, Belpois, I order you to shut this thing down, now, and then you can explain to me exactly what this thing is about."

He then rounded on the soldiers, who stood looking determined.

"And you," he said. "I had a feeling you'd bring trouble here with you."

Broot and Tommy both looked like they were about to charge at Delmas and strangle him.

"I think we ought to alert the authorities and Alliance command right away," said Jim.

"Me too, Jim," said Sissi. "It's much too dangerous. I told you so, didn't I?"

"You're nothing but a rotten traitor!" yelled Ulrich.

Sissi whirled on him and pointed at him.

"No more than you are, Ulrich darling!" she said.

"Lets go, Belpois," said Delmas. "Kill this thing immediately and follow me."

Jeremie looked up at Delmas with defiance, then turned back to the computer. He started typing rapidly.

"No," he said.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Jim.

"I'm launching a new program," said Jeremie. "With any luck, it'll work."

"What kind of program?" asked Eddie.

Jeremie hit the "enter" key.

"Return to the past, now!" he said.

Suddenly, where the holographic display of Lyoko was, there was a bright flash of light that formed a dome and started to spread outwards.

After a split second, the soldiers found themselves standing on the grounds, directly in front of Jim.

"Jim is fine," said Jim. "And I hope you're as good as you claim."

The soldiers hesitated for a second.

"What the hell?" asked Broot, looking around.

"What?" asked Jim. "What's the problem?"

Derrick stammered.

"Um, nothing, Jim," he said. "Look, we just remembered we have something important to take care of. We'll be back later."

He led his group over to the vending machines, where they found Ulrich, Odd and Yumi. Yumi just finished grabbing something from the vending machines and Ulrich and Odd looked up from taking a drink from a cup.

"What happened anyway?" asked Ulrich. "What are we doing here?"

"But…we were doing this yesterday," said Yumi. "You don't think…"

Just then, Jeremie walked by both groups and up to the vending machines. He put a couple of coins in and pressed a button.

"Einstein," said Odd. "You are a genius! Your return to the past? It works!"

Jeremie was startled out of what he was doing and answered.

"What's that?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You haven't forgotten about the supercomputer and Lyoko and my big purple cat costume, huh?" asked Odd.

Jeremie turned to face Odd.

"You…you know about Lyoko?" he asked. "But how come?"

"That's weird," said Derrick.

"Yeah," said Yumi. "It looks like the return in time didn't quite work on him."

Ulrich tossed his drink aside and put his arm over Jeremie's shoulders, leading him away from the vending machine kiosk.

"Come on," he said. "We're going to fill you in."

Everybody followed Ulrich up to Jeremie's room, where everyone did their best to debrief Jeremie on what just happened.

"But why would I not remember anything?" asked Jeremie.

"Maybe because you were the only one who didn't get digitalized on Lyoko," said Yumi.  
"Yes," said Jeremie. "That could be. Well, tomorrow, I'm going to go to the factory first thing and scan myself."

Their pink haired friend on screen held up her hand.

"No, Jeremie," she said. "We have to shut down the supercomputer and you know it. It's too dangerous."

Everyone, especially the Alliance soldiers, were surprise by the girl's assertion.

"But…Maya…" protested Jeremie.

At this, the girl smiled and winked at Jeremie.

"Aelita," she said. "When I went into the tower, I…I remembered my name!"

(A/N: Aelita – Sharon Mann)

"Aelita," said Jeremie. "That's even better than Maya. But, what about bringing you in? I promised."

He turned back to his friends.

"Give me one more night to work it out, okay?" asked Jeremie. "I'll find a way!"

Everybody else looked at each other. Tommy and Broot shrugged. Lexi and Eddie both smiled at Derrick, and Villick crossed his arms. Ulrich and the others nodded at Derrick.

"Okay," said Derrick, smiling.

"Thanks, guys," said Jeremie, returning the smile.

"We'll meet up in the computer lab tomorrow morning to see how you're doing," said Derrick.

Everyone except Jeremie turned around and left the room, only to be met with the sight of Sissi wearing the same dress she wore the night Jeremie showed them the computer.

"Ulrich," she said. "What are you doing there? I've been waiting for you for an hour. I've never been stood up like this before!"

"There's always a first time," said Ulrich. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm with my friends."

As they left, the companions heard Sissi call after Ulrich.

"I'll make you pay!" she exclaimed. "Did you hear that, huh, Ulrich?!"

"I've got a bad feeling about this girl, Sissi," said Odd. "I get the idea that she's going to give us a lot of grief."

"That dress makes her look like an Afterlife stripper," said Broot.

Tommy and Broot both did a fist bump while everybody else chuckled.

* * *

The next day, the students and soldiers found Jeremie in the computer lab.

"Hi," said Yumi. "Well, find anything?"

"Yes," said Jeremie. "XANA."

"XANA?" asked Tommy.

"Yeah," said Odd. "What's that?"

"A super dangerous program," said Aelita. "Like a virus which can control electricity, and it activates towers on Lyoko to gain access to your world."

"So, the red tower, the electricity monster, the weird symbol, the monsters on Lyoko, all of that was XANA?" asked Yumi.

"Yes," said Jeremie. "Only Aelita can counter it by deactivating the towers it uses for attack in the real world."

"Well, that's just perfect," said Tommy. "That's just fantastic."

"Well, which is it?" asked Broot.

"Both," said Tommy.

"What about materializing Aelita?" asked Ulrich.

"I could do it," said Jeremie. "But I need some time. It's dangerous. XANA can attack at any moment."

"Be reasonable, Jeremie," said Aelita. "We'd better just shut this thing down."

The group looked forlorn.

"Look, now that we know how to neutralize XANA, we just have to get Aelita to the activated tower," said Ulrich.

Jeremie looked surprised.

"Yeah," said Odd. "We can find a way to counter the attack while Einstein finds a way to bring Aelita back to Earth, right?"

Yumi and Ulrich nodded at their weird friend.

"It's risky," said Yumi. "But I think we should. After all, we _are_ Lyoko warriors, aren't we?"

"YEAH!" yelled Odd and Ulrich, high-fiving each other.

Aelita smiled.

"You really think you can do it?" she asked.

"They don't call me Einstein for nothing," said Jeremie. "In a few weeks, I'll have it figured out. Meanwhile, let's not forget about our pact, huh?"

"Hey, relax," said Yumi. "We all know how to keep a secret."

The kids heard the sound of a throat clearing next to them. When they looked up, they saw that Villick had put his hand to his mouth.

"Oh," said Jeremie. "I'm sorry…I'd completely forgotten about you guys. So, what do you think?"

The soldiers looked serious at first, but then each of them gave an ever so slight smile.

"Jeremie," said Derrick, "I listened to Villick's story and at first thought this would be a bad idea. However, we are now of a different opinion of this whole affair."

"For one thing, we don't think Aelita deserves to have the computer shut down with her inside it," said Eddie.

"AI's may be dangerous," said Tommy, "but when all was said and done, Aelita was willing to sacrifice any possibility of a life in order to keep us and the whole of humanity safe. And if that doesn't earn her any points, I don't know what does."

"Besides," said Broot. "Fighting on Lyoko is the most fun I've had since I got to this godforsaken country."

"Racist," said Tommy.

"Hey, I just work with what I'm given," said Broot.

Villick's mandibles clicked.

"I trust my friends' judgment," he said. "If they are with you, so am I."

"Me too!" said Lexi.

Jeremie smiled at the soldiers.

"Thank you, guys," he said. "I won't let you down. I promise!"

Villick pointed to Jeremie.

"See that you don't," he said.

Lexi stepped forth.

"You know, I think now is the perfect time to let you guys know about an idea I had!" she said.

"What's that, Lex?" asked Derrick.

"How about we go undercover while we're protecting the school?" asked Lexi.

"What?" asked Derrick. "You mean…dress as civilians?"

"Yes," said Lexi. "But let's take it one step further! There's a high school nearby, right? Why don't we pretend that we're high schoolers who come over here to visit our friends?"

Villick scratched his chin.

"That's not a bad idea, Lexi," he said.

"Yeah," said Derrick. "We'll requisition some regular clothes for us to wear and we'll make some cover IDs. After that, we'll start guarding the school undercover."

"Unfortunately, I would have to decline," said Villick. "No matter what kind of clothes I wear, a turian is not going to blend in well at a human school."

The group frowned as they realized Villick's point.

"Forget it," said Broot. "You can count me out on that _Jump Street_ shit, too. I can't handle kids. Sometimes, I think the turians did us a favor when they deployed the genophage."

"Did _you_ a favor?" asked Lexi. "Don't you mean the krogan?"

Broot sighed.

"Thank you so much, Lexi," he said. "For one glorious second, I forgot that I'm a human."

"Well, I for one wouldn't be adverse to the idea," said Eddie.

"Eh, I've had worse," said Tommy. "Consider me enrolled."

Derrick nodded.

"Then it's settled," he said. "But for now, I think we could all use some sleep, so we'll all head back to campus and get some shuteye."

He whirled on Jeremie.

"You too, Belpois," said Derrick. "If you even think about working late on the computer tonight, I will personally turn you in."

"But I…" started Jeremie, looking crestfallen. "I promised Aelita I'd…"

"It's okay, Jeremie," said Aelita. "You should rest. You've done enough for me for one day."

"You're sure?" asked Jeremie.

"I'm sure," said Aelita. "Go get some rest."

The whole group turned to leave and bade Aelita goodbye as she disappeared from the screen with a smile on her face. Before they got too far out of the factory. Villick placed a hand on Ulrich's shoulder, stopping him.

"Ulrich," he said. "Wait a moment."

"What is it?" asked Ulrich.

"Don't think I've forgotten about the discussion I put a pin in," said Villick. "We need to address your biotics."

Everybody stopped to listen to the conversation.

"Ulrich," said Yumi. "You're a biotic?"

Ulrich closed his eyes.

"Yes," he spat. "And no, I can't read minds."

"I know you can't," said Yumi. "That doesn't make it any less cool."

"Really?" asked Ulrich.

"Ulrich?" asked Villick.

"Oh, right," said Ulrich. "Sorry. But please, tell me you're not about to send me off to some off-world station."

Villick flashed Ulrich what may have passed as a turian smile.

"I had a better idea," said Villick. "Thus far, you've been able to rein in your abilities, and so perhaps for now, I think you should just be monitored. If you start to have too much trouble with your gifts, then I think it might be best to take you somewhere for training."

"Are you saying you want to train me?" asked Ulrich.

"I do," said Villick. "And I will."

Ulrich smiled up at his new turian friend.

"As for your not having an amplifier," said Villick, "I may have a solution to that problem."

"A solution?" asked Ulrich.

"I have another human acquaintance," said Villick. "A biotic like you. He might be able to help us."

"Really?" asked Ulrich. "Who?"

To Be Continued…


End file.
